Red's Quest: Fire
by MontagJ
Summary: Red and his friends have always loved Pokemon. Thanks to the famous Porfessor Oak, they're in for the in for the experience of a lifetime!
1. Your Pokemon Adventure is About to Begin

Despite my better judgment, this is a Pokémon fanfic. Why? I can't really say. (Then again, why did I do a Bakugan fic?) This is about Red, the main character form Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Fire Red, and Leaf Green. That's not to be confused with Ash, because they are to totally different people. Also know I'm going with the more stoical Red from his cameo appearance in the second generation games. With that, let's begin my third fanfiction; _Fire_.

* * *

A battle raged before a ten year old boy, Red. His Gengar, a purple, spiky little beast, lunged forward to attack. Gangar's foe, a pink cross between a porcupine and a rhinoceros called Nidorino, leapt back. "Tch." When Nidorino squared off with Gengar again, it leapt forward brandishing its horn. At that moment time stopped. Red struck his aged "N64" with a closed fist in frustration.

Red decided it didn't matter. Very soon he'd be doing that for real. He moved over to the full length mirror on his closet door. He saw a young boy with black, messy hair and dark brown eyes. Red was wearing his usual attire; a red collared vest with white sleeves over a black t-shirt and blue jeans. He tugged his red and white cap lower over his eyes so the shadow masked the top of his face, like he always did. He put on his fingerless black gloves and headed downstairs and out the door. Time to get going!

Red strolled through his home town, Pallet, to pass the time. To the north he saw the road that led out of Pallet, Route 1. Though he wasn't supposed to, Red had a habit of sneaking out of town to observe wild Pokémon. Red absently paced nearer to the tall grass of Route 1.

"Wait!" the voice of a kind old man called out. The voice was familiar, so Red quarter turned to confirm its owner. It was indeed Oak, the "Pokémon Professor." Oak was a rather short gentleman with grey hair and a warm smile. The professor's lab coat waved in the breeze as he tried to catch up with Red. "I'm glad I caught you," Oak said with a grin, "You know you shouldn't go into tall grass without a Pokémon!" Red didn't say anything, he usually didn't. Just then another youth, a girl with dark brown hair and eyes, jogged onto the scene. Oak met her with a warning smile. "Green," Oak scolded, "were you planning on leaving town without a Pokémon as well?"

Green fidgeted in place. Red noticed she was also in her usual attire, a light blue tank top and red skirt. "I wasn't going to go far Professor Oak, honest!" she pleaded as if the kindly professor would have done anything to punish her anyway.

"Honestly you two," Oak sighed, "if you're so interested in Pokémon than come with me." Oak led Red and Green to his lab in the center of town. Inside, Oak led them to a table with three Pokéballs. A third kid, a boy with bird's nest light brown hair was eyeing the Pokéballs. He wore a navy blue shirt and dull brown cargo pants.

The third kid looked up with a scowl. "Gramps," he said impatiently, "what took you so long?"

"Blue, what are you doing here?" Oak wondered. Realization washed over his face. "That's right, I called you here too!" Red, Blue, and Green stood at attention. Oak walked over to the other side of the desk. "When I was younger I was a hot-shot trainer. But in my old age I only have these three left." The three children looked around quizzically. Oak laughed, "They're in the Pokéballs!" Red, Blue, and Green stared at the Pokéballs. "Go ahead and choose."

Green looked up. "What if we all want the same one?" Green asked.

"I don't think that'll be a problem…" Red said. His eyes hadn't moved. They were transfixed on the Pokéball on the far left of the table. Blue was starring at the one in the center, and Green realized the one she wanted was on the far right. They picked up their Pokéballs still starring at them.

"How is that possible?" Green wondered out loud.

"I think we picked the ones we were meant to have," Blue said, "Like destiny, or something."

Red turned to walk away without another word. Oak and Green were used to this, but Blue called out. "Red, wait!" Blue caught up with Red. "Let's test out our new Pokémon!" Blue released his Pokémon from its Pokéball. Squirtle, a turtle with blue skin, appeared from a flash of light.

"Wait a minute, you two!" Oak protested, "You can't have a Pokémon battle in here!"

Red tugged his cap further down over his eyes and grinned, "I accept your challenge!" Red never smiled!

Oak continued to protest, but Blue cut him off. "Don't worry gramps, our Pokémon are too young to use any special attacks."

Red released his Pokémon, Charmander. Charmander was a small, bipedal lizard with orange skin and a flame sprouting from the tip of its tail. "Let's go," Red said, "Scratch!"

"That Grandson of mine!" Oak complained to himself.

Green watched Red and Blue in their first real Pokémon battle. "Look how happy they are," Green observed, "I can't remember the last time Red smiled."

"Of course," Oak sighed, "Those two have been rivals since you were all babies."

Red and Blue continued their battle for almost ten minutes. Charmander and Squertle looked like they were on their last legs. "Come on, Squirtle, you've got to hit him just one more time!" Blue ordered, "Tackle it!"

Suddenly, Red got an idea. "Charmander, catch it!" Charmander obeyed. Once Squirtle struck it, Charmander wrapped its arms around its foe's head. "Now Scratch it!" Charmander raked its claws right down the center of Squirtle's face. Squertle fell back onto its shell, unconscious.

"What? I lost?!" Blue protested, "I picked the wrong Pokémon!"

Green giggled. "What happened to destiny, huh?" she asked.

"Aw, shut up…"

Charmander stumbled over to Red. "Are you all right?" Red asked. Charmander just nodded.

"Those two sure are two of a kind," Green said to herself.

"So are they," Oak said pointing at Blue and Squirtle. Blue had shaken Squirtle out of its stupor and they were both growling at Red and Charmander. Both trainers recalled their Pokémon.

"Whatever," Blue scoffed, "I'm gonna go make my Pokémon fight to toughen it up." Blue stormed out. "Smell ya' later!" Red also took his leave.

"Oh, wait a minute!" Oak realized out loud, "There was something else I wanted to give to you kids!"

"I'll go get them," Green told him. With that she ran out too, leaving Oak in the dust. But when Green got outside, Red and Blue had seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. "How the heck do they do that?"

Red had already left town and was looking for wild Pokémon. Finally he was on the path to his dream: to be the world's strongest Pokémon trainer. To become a Pokémon Master!

* * *

Well that's Chapter 1 of _Fire_. I got the Idea for this a while ago, but didn't really start thinking about it until Heart Gold and Soul Silver came out. Well at least now I won't feel like an idiot for having only one story posted!


	2. Small Chore, Big Flash

Still love Heart Gold. Despite the fact that every single poison attack poisons my Pokémon without fail!! Oh well, I still tear them apart. Speaking of which, let's rejoin Red on _his_ quest to become the strongest Pokémon trainer in the world.

* * *

It didn't take Red long to find wild Pokémon. There were many Pidgey and Rattata running around Route 1. Red and Charmander took on every one they could find, winning every time. Charmander grew a lot on the way to the next town, Viridian City. Red knew, however, that Charmander alone couldn't become champion. Red and Charmander needed more allies.

After Charmander rested at the Pokémon Center, Red went to the Viridian Poké Mart. As soon as he entered he was hailed by the clerk. "You're from Pallet Town, aren't you?" Red walked over to the desk. "You know Professor Oak, don't you?" Red nodded. "Then would you take this package to him?" the clerk asked lifting a medium-sized cardboard box, "His order of Pokéballs came in." Red didn't like the idea of being a delivery boy very much, but Oak had always been kind to him, and he gave him Charmander. Red accepted the package.

He turned to leave, but then he remembered why he came. "Hey," he asked the clerk over his shoulder, "Do you have any Pokéballs for sale?"

The clerk shook his head. "Sorry kid," he said clearly disappointed that he couldn't help, "the only ones we have are those special order ones for Oak." Red left without another word.

On his way back Red used the old shortcut from Viridian to Pallet. He leapt ledges that were just short enough to jump off of, but too steep to climb. However some places that held wild Pokémon he could not avoid. Not that he minded. Every encounter made Charmander that much stronger, and made both of them that much closer.

Red got home at around 7:30 at night. The summer sun hung low in the sky washing the whole town in a gold light. Red let Charmander out of his Pokéball to let him get a look at their home town. Charmander seemed to love the setting sun. Red did too. They both gave it a quick gaze, long enough to take in its beauty, but not so long as to damage their eyes. Just as they were about to look away something caught Red's eye. It was a spark of light that out shown the sun.

In an instant the light was gone. It was almost as if it disappeared behind a veil of gold feathers. But it was so far and in the sun. Red couldn't be sure of what he saw. Charmander didn't seem to notice, but could it be that Red saw a Pokémon that was brighter than the sun?

Red tried to put it from his mind. He continued on to Oak's lab. He found Oak right away. "There you are, Red," Oak greeted, "Green has been looking for you."

"This is for you," Red handed over the parcel.

"Oh," Oak realized, "these are the custom Pokéballs I ordered." Red nodded. Suddenly, both of their attentions were turned to the front door. The sounds of all too familiar arguing could be heard.

"Let go, Green!" Blue demanded.

Green chastised her friend as she dragged him over to the same desk where their Pokémon once were. "Professor Oak said that he needed us for a special task. Being his grandson I thought you would at least take the time to hear him out!"

"But I have to make Squirtle stronger!" Blue protested. Green just huffed and kept on dragging. Red groaned and rolled his eyes at the pathetic sight.

"I found _this one_," Green said scowling at Blue. She turned to look at Oak, "But I couldn't find-" When she turned she saw Red watching her. "When did you get here?"

Oak got everyone's attention. "Good!" he said, "Everyone is here."

"So what's up, gramps?" Blue whined, "Why'd you call us back so soon?"

"I must admit, Professor," Green admitted, "I'm kind of curious too."

"Well I gave you those Pokémon so you could help me with an errand," Oak explained.

"An errand?" Blue groaned. Green elbowed him in the side to shut him up.

"Yes, well," Oak continued, "I have had a dream since I was no older than you kids. I wanted to catalog all the Pokémon in the world. But I'm too old now to travel the world like I used to." Oak walked over to another desk in the back of the room. From the desk he took three red, rectangular devices. He returned and handed the machines to the three confused children. "These are my own invention," Oak told them, "the 'Pokédex.' It's a high-tech encyclopedia!"

"What gives?" Blue demanded, flipping through the electronic pages, "The whole thing's blank!"

"That's right," Oak said, "The Pokédex will fill up automatically whenever you see or catch a new Pokémon!"

"So all we need to do is catch every Pokémon we can find, right?" Blue asked. Oak nodded happily at his grandson. "Fine," Blue said, "I can do that." Blue turned to his friends, "Red, Green, I hate to say it, but I don't need your help. " He turned around to leave. "I know! I'll borrow a town map from my sister," he turned back around, "Red, I'll tell her not to give you one! Smell ya' later!" Blue stormed off.

"Don't worry, he won't get far," Oak said amused. He pointed to the clock, it was 8:45.

Both Red and Green went home to spend their last night there before their big adventure. Also it was good to tell their parents that they were leaving on a journey at Oak's request.

The sun rose on a new day. Red stood at the mouth of Route 1 for the last time in what would most likely be a long time. A lot was on the ten year olds mind. The Pokédex, his rivals, all the Pokémon in the world… and the Pokémon in the sun. Red's very own Pokémon legend was finally about to begin!

* * *

Chapter two fin. So far the story has matched the game _almost_ exactly. That may last for a few more chapters, like one or two, but don't worry. I have my muse, and she tells me sweet things to mine ears. (You can just hear the bad French accent, can't you?) But I digress; I'll get original soon enough!


	3. Rematch

…

(Ooo! Now I'm Red……… And I lost it…)

* * *

Red and Charmander steam rolled their way through Route 1. By now Charmander was overpowered compared to the other Pokémon in the area. Back in Vermilion City, Red decided to check the Mart one more time. He had to get Pokéballs so he could catch his first Pokémon.

The clerk recognized him. "Hey kid!" he hailed, "I just got a shipment of Pokéballs last night." Red wondered at the convenient timing. He didn't dwell on it. He paid for as many Pokéballs as he could afford, thanked the clerk than left. "That kid's gonna make something of himself someday," he said. One of the customers who overheard just scoffed at the ridicules notion.

Back on the secluded Route 1, Red found a wild Pokémon; a Rattata. Red released Charmander. "We'll have to weaken it," he told his Pokémon. Charmander immediately smashed its flaming tail into the target. Unfortunately, Rattata went flying out of sight. "Not… quite," Red decided.

A lot of the Pokémon in the area were now scared of Charmander, so encounters were becoming infrequent. Finally, Red met a Pidgey that not only approached, but seemed to want to fight.

"Try… to go kind of… easyish on it," Red ordered. Red promised himself he would never go easy on anyone as a Pokémon trainer, but to catch his first Pokémon, he kind of had to.

Charmander didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of holding back either, but it obliged. It scratched at Pidgey, but it took to the sky to dodge. From there, it kicked up sand with its wings. Charmander was also able to dodge, which startled the Pidgey. Charmander took advantage of this and leaped into another scratch attack. Pidgey was barely able to dodge and some of its wing feathers were clipped off.

While normal Pidgey would run, this one seemed to enjoy the excitement. It dive bombed Charmander, but it wasn't fast enough. The fire Pokémon sidestepped and Pidgey had to land on the ground to keep from crashing. Charmander took advantage of this and scratched it again. This time, it was a direct hit. Pidgey collapsed from the heavy blow. Red threw his Pokéball. The red and white sphere struck Pidgey. It glowed red, then vanished into the ball. After a long struggle, it gave up and was caught.

Red and Charmander gave each other the thumbs up. Red picked up his first _caught_ Pokémon. The Pokéball wasn't that much heavier than it was before. "Let's go heal it, Charmander." The Pokémon agreed.

Back it the Viridian Pokémon Center, Red's Pidgey was healed back to full health. Once Red got it back, he let it out of its Pokéball to greet it. When it came out it immediately tried to pick a fight with Charmander. The attendant behind the desk scolded it for trying to fight in a place of healing. Pidgey seemed to understand.

"You sure are scrappy," Red told his Pidgey. It seemed to take that as a complement. "Let's see what the Pokédex has to say about you."

"Does not like to fight. It hides in tall grass where it fogies for bugs," the Pokédex reported.

"Doesn't like to fight?" Red questioned, "Well not this one!" Pidgey looked up at Red hoping he was impressed and not disappointed. Red smiled at it, and so did Charmander. Pidgey was so happy it flew around the Pokémon Center at top speed, causing all kinds of havoc.

Later, after Pidgey was rained in, they left Viridian. Red decided to head west. He heard some other trainers mention a "Pokémon League" filled with impossibly strong trainers called the Elite Four. They were the strongest trainers in all of Kanto, Red had to take them on!

Once Red was on the road to the Elite Four, he was stopped by a familiar voice. "Hey, Red!" Blue called. He came running from the path to the Pokémon League. "You're off to the Pokémon League? Forget it! You probably don't have any badges!" Blue laughed.

"And you do?" Red asked.

Blue looked ticked. "The stupid guard won't let you through without them!" he reported with an angry snort.

"And one gets these by…"

"You have to win at these Gyms scattered all over Kanto!" Blue exclaimed. At least it's give me time to toughen up my Pokémon." Red turned to leave. He saw a building marked "Gym" back in town. "That reminds me," Blue said before Red could leave, "I want to see if your Pokémon have gotten any tougher."

Red grinned. He tossed one of his Pokéballs and released his Pidgey.

"Is that all you've got?" Blue demanded, "Check out _my_ Pidgey!" Blue kissed the top of his Pokéball and threw it in the air. From the ball came a Pidgey of his own. It looked a little older and bigger than Red's.

"That's cute how you smooched the Pokéball," Red said sarcastically, "Are you two going to cuddle now or are we gonna get this fight started?"

Blue growled. "Pidgey, Sand-Attack!" he ordered.

"Match it, Pidgey," Red told his Pokémon.

The two Sand-Attacks collided. Blue's Pidgey clearly outmatched Red's in brute strength. At the last minute, Red ordered his Pidgey to get out of the way. It flew around the outside and got next to the enemy Pidgey. Red had to sidestep to avoid the blast of blinding sand.

"Quick-Attack!" Red roared. Pidgey tried to slam its full body weight into Blue's Pidgey, but it took to the sky to dodge.

The two bird Pokémon circled around each other, trying to get the upper hand.

"End this!" Blue shouted, "Tackle it now!"

Pidgey did its best to dodge, but Blue's was just a little bit faster. The smaller bird was glanced by the body blow and fell. Before it could recover its senses from the hit, Blue ordered his Pidgey to attack again.

"Gust, Pidgey!"

The blast of wind whipped up by the bird's wings slammed into Red's Pidgey. It was blown away and into Red's arms. Red recalled his Pidgey and took out another Pokéball. He scowled at Blue as he prepared to throw.

"Honestly, you two," a girl's voice chided, "You just never stop with the fighting do you?"

Red turned and focused on the face of Green. He scoffed and tugged down his hat.

"I figured I'd find you two going after the Elite Four right away," she sighed, "I came to tell you goof balls that the gym in Viridian is closed and the first gym is in Pewter City." She turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, yeah," she continued without turning, "don't overdo it. I don't want to hear either of you get hurt." Then she left.

Red turned back to Blue. "I don't think I can call this a win, but I think I've paid you back for our match at the lab." Red sighed and nodded. Blue turned around and looked up at the mountain towering above Viridian City. "The Indigo Plateau up there," Blue said pointing at the summit, "is crawling with tough trainers. I gotta figure out a way to get past them!" Blue turned back to face his rival, "Red, you should stop dawdling back here and get a move on!" With that, Blue raced off, presumably to Pewter City.

Red shook his head lightly at his friend. Some things will never change he decided. With one last glance at his final goal, Red started this trek to Pewter City and his first true step to becoming a Pokémon Master.

* * *

Gah! This took me forever to write! I think this was the longest it's ever taken me to finish a chapter after I've already started it. I think it's worth it though.


	4. Easy Come

I saw the new Black and White version starters. Gotta say, I'm disappointed. If that's the best Nintendo can do then this generation is shaping up to be as bad as gen. 3. They are really out of Ideas.

* * *

Red headed north to Pewter City. The path was straight and opened. Well, it was until he got to the Viridian Forest. The wood was, so he heard, twisting and hard to navigate. It sure looked like it. All the trees looked three feet thick, and there were so many you couldn't see past a few feet. The one thing that made it look navigable at all was a small path winding through the trees. That was the way in, and through.

Red entered the forest cautiously. Soon he found several wild bug Pokémon. They were no match for Pidgey and Charmander. He caught a Caterpie and a Weedle with ease. He didn't intend to use them though, not just yet. He needed a well balanced team he could rely on in any situation.

Red also met a few trainers in the forest, but none of them were serious. That was the problem: no one was serious about Pokémon Training. The only people who could really call themselves Trainers were the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four. Red was going to change that!

For now though, Red had to deal with the few bug catchers the Viridian Forest had to offer. He was glad for the opportunity to start Pidgey off easy. He could tell it was really unhappy that it lost to Blue earlier. He could see his young Pidgey mature and get stronger with every battle. Charmander grew too, but not nearly as much.

Viridian was long and winding, and after most of the day was burned catching Pidgey and battling Blue, the sun began to sink. Red didn't know how far into the forest he had ventured. He hoped it had been at least half way. He set up camp, and with Charmander's help, set up a camp fire.

Red and his Pokémon stayed up to watch the stars and the moon raise. Even Pidgey calmed down and sat still on Red's shoulder. Charmander fell asleep after a few minutes. Red noticed how it kept its tail up to not set the forest on fire, even when asleep. Red took out his Pokédex to see if that was in it. It wasn't, so he decided to add to the entry. It read "Even when asleep, Charmander has the self control to keep its tail up to keep from burning its surroundings." That was what Professor Oak wanted, to learn everything he could about Pokémon he could. And if Red could help with that, he'd be happy to.

Pidgey was out not long after Charmander. Red was about to turn in when he heard rustling in the bushes nearby. He curried both his Pokémon with him and hid behind a tree to see what would appear. A small yellow Pokémon stepped into the light of the campfire and sniffed Red's tent, perhaps looking for food. Red recognized the mouse like creature as Pikachu, an electric Pokémon. Red found this strange because he was under the impression Pokémon like Pikachu lived near power plants and the like.

He studied the Pikachu, it had a zig-zagy tail and bright red cheeks. Red quietly woke up his Pokémon. He wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass him by. Charmander woke up without a fuss, but Pidgey made far too much noise to let his Trainer remain stealthy. Pikachu's long, straight ears perked up to locate the source of the noise. Red and his Pokémon stepped out from behind the tree.

Red knew that Pidgey was a bad match up against Pikachu, but that didn't stop the aggressive bird from charging the foe without Red's orders. Pikachu loosed a jolt of electricity that engulfed Pidgey. It hit the ground with a thud, smoking and out cold. I'll have to teach him not to do that, Red thought to himself. "Charmander," he said out loud, "Let's go."

Red recalled Pidgey and ordered "Charmander, Ember!" It swung its flaming tail at Pikachu, but the electric mouse ducked and body slammed Charmander. They both fell to the ground and Pikachu, still clinging to Charmander launched another Thundershock attack. The shock was short, and when it was over Charmander scratched Pikachu to make it let go and kicked it off. The two Pokémon squared off, both ready for more. This is going to be fun, Red decided.

He was wrong. Immediately, Pikachu turned and ran through the trees. There was no way Red could follow through the thick forest at night. It got away. Red recalled Charmander, doused his campfire, and turned in for the night.

The next morning he learned he was _not_ half way through the forest. He spent half the day winding up and down the trail through the otherwise impassable wood. Red was getting tired of the doldrums of a seemingly endless forest. He sat down to eat his lunch when he heard rustling in the undergrowth. Red was elated to see Pikachu pop out into the forest path.

Red stood and released Charmander, but Pikachu ran at the sight of the duo. Red and Charmander sighed. Easy come, easy go…

Later on, Red heard the same rustling as before. Once again, Pikachu crossed his path. Red couldn't believe his luck. He reared back to throw the Pokéball that contained Charmander, but Pikachu saw him and ran… Again!

After another hour or so, Red saw Pikachu again. This time it didn't even wait for Red to move before it ran. Red leaped forward to try to grab it so it couldn't get away, but he missed and plowed face first into a tree. He could hear Pikachu laughing at him somewhere nearby. That was it, no more messing around!

Red crawled through the trees after Pikachu. A less then dignifying moment, but he had had enough of that Pikachu. He finally caught up with it, but he remained hidden. When it got out into the forest path, Red pounced on it.

Pikachu zapped its attacker, but he wouldn't let go. Pikachu zapped again, then again, then again before Red's grip loosened. Pikachu barely wiggled free, but before it could run, Red grabbed its tail. Pikachu stood straight up on its hind legs, then turned around and bit Red's hand. Finally, Red let go, but this time Pikachu didn't run. Red looked into its eyes and saw a fire had been lit inside it. Pikachu doesn't like to be grabbed by its tail, Red realized.

Red sent out Charmander, but Pikachu didn't back off. "Ember!" Red ordered. Pikachu dodged every swipe of Charmander's tail until it had to jump to avoid a low sweep. With no way to change direction, Pikachu had to take a full force smash of Charmander's tail. When it hit the ground Red through a Pokéball and Pikachu disappeared into it. The Pokéball wiggled on the ground, but it wasn't enough to contain the tenacious mouse.

When Pikachu broke free, it tackled Charmander with amazing speed. It was incredibly fast. Charmander tried to scratch it but it darted away and zapped him. Charmander could take plenty more of those, but Red couldn't risk him getting Paralyzed. Then he got an idea.

"Charmander, find a long stick and drive it into the ground!" Charmander didn't know why he was gardening at a time like this, but it complied. Pikachu didn't get it either, but it didn't really care. Charmander was able to drive a stick almost as tall as he was into the ground just before Pikachu launched its attack. "Now duck!" Charmander ducked and the electric attack bolted toward him. Just before it struck it curved and hit the stick like a lightning rod. "Finish it!" Red ordered. Charmander, who had crouched into the perfect position, spring boarded at Pikachu and raked its claws across Pikachu's face. Red threw another Pokéball and this time, after a hard struggle, the Pokéball (and Red) won.

Red released Pikachu to greet it. When he did he saw the same fire it its eyes as before. When Red looked closer, however, he saw the fire wasn't anger. It was passion, the same kind of passion that burned in him. He didn't know if it had changed, or if that was how Pikachu felt all along. Pikachu didn't really know either. But that wasn't important anymore. Pikachu was part of the team now. And that wasn't going to change any time soon!

* * *

That took a while. Bloody power outage nearly destroyed the whole thing. Lucky autosave kicked it! Good thing too, I like this chapter. Is it just me or do Red's Pokémon have more personality than he does? No, just kidding. I hope his personality is showing from in between the lines. It'd be nice to know it anyone else can see it. (Fel-light, you don't count. I already told you my version of Red's back story.) (P.S., there are exactly 1,400 words in this chapter without the A/Ns)


	5. The Winners and the Losers

I'm really getting into this one! The first Gym is in this chapter. How will Red fair against Pewter's powerful Gym Leader?

* * *

Red got out of the Viridian Forest before nightfall. Funny, it seemed so much smaller when he wasn't chasing Pikachu everywhere. Red made his way to the Pokémon Center right at the city limits, perhaps there for the passing trainers' convenience. Red decided he would spend the night there. The food and a room were free for one night. Who would pass that up?

Red sent his Bug Pokémon to Oak via PC. He wasn't quite sure how that worked. There was a slot for his Pokéballs next to the computer. When he hit "transfer" the just kind of vanished. Strange…

With that taken care of, Red went to his room and released his Pokémon. Charmander, Pidgey, and Pikachu. Half way there. The Pokémon League rules stated that you could only have six Pokémon with you at a time. Who would be the remainder of his team? Time will surely tell. Red told himself he wouldn't end up like every other Trainer, he wouldn't give up half way like everyone else.

Most people didn't take Pokémon Training seriously, and hardly anyone took on any of the "Gym Leaders" to earn badges. When Red was eating, he overheard a few kids and Bug Catchers comparing their experience at Pewter City's Gym. Most of them got knocked out by the warm-up trainer and didn't even get to the Leader.

Red wouldn't end up like them. He wasn't quitter. On that note Red snapped back to reality by Pidgey, who was picking a fight with Pikachu. Charmander tried to keep them at bay, but in the end, Red had to pull them apart. He sighed. "What do you think, Charmander?" Red asked his partner, "Can we handle three more of these characters?" Charmander thought about it for a while, then just sighed. My thoughts exactly, Red thought.

The next day Red made his way to Pewter Gym. The Gym was a tall, long building with a light brown roof. When Red stepped inside he felt like he had been teleported into a desert. Sand and rock littered the landscape. Time to fire the cleaning lady, Red thought as he stepped forward. A voice stopped him

"Hey kid!" a _young kid_ said. He was hiding behind a pile of boulders. "You're still light-years from facing Brock!" Red rolled his eyes. "You have to go through me to challenge our Gym Leader!"

Red sighed, "Fine." He sent out Pikachu.

"That's your Pokémon?" the young trainer asked, "You don't stand a chance! Go Sandshrew!" When the glow of the Pokéball faded, Red saw a Yellowish-tan armored mammal. It looked a little like an armadillo. "Sandshrew use scratch attack!" Sandshrew leapt at Pikachu, it easily dodged.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack," Red ordered. Pikachu slammed into the foe. "Finish it with Thundershock." The blast of electricity shot at Sandshrew and caught it right in the chest. Sandshrew merely shook off the insult. Red flinched at that. It couldn't be that strong, could it?

"Ground type Pokémon are completely immune to electric attacks, stupid!" the young trainer laughed, "Now Sandshrew, use Dig attack!"

If electricity wouldn't work, Red reasoned, physical attacks were his only option. "Pikachu, wait for Sandshrew to come up, then-"

"Too late!"

Sandshrew burst out of the ground and slammed into Pikachu's chest. Pikachu flew back, but was able to land on its feet.

"Pikachu, Slam!"

Pikachu tackled Sandshrew with all his might. It was too much and Sandshrew collapsed.

"No way!" the kid exclaimed. He recalled Sandshrew.

"Are we done here?" Red asked, "Or are you going to waste any more of my time?"

He scoffed, "Just go." Red started to walk away when the kid spoke up again. "You know, light years are a measure of distance, not time." Red just ignored him.

"So, you're here," a man in his late teens said. He was standing in a flattened rock near the back of the building. He had wild brown hair, a black jacket with two orange stripes below the shoulders and green cargo pants (though not as baggy as Blue's). "I'm Pewter's Gym Leader," he continued. This was Brock. "My rock-hard will power is evident even in my Pokémon. My Pokémon are all rock hard, and have true-grit determination. That's right! All my Pokémon are the rock type!" Red wondered if all the Gym Leaders were this dramatic… "You're still going to challenge me knowing you'll lose? That's the Trainer's honor that compels you to challenge me." Sure thing, Red thought, but can we get on with this? "Fine, then! Show me your best!"

"So if I win I get a badge?" Red asked, "Are there any special rules?"

"The Battle will be two on two," Brock said, "When both of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle the match is over."

Red decided not to use Pikachu. The battle with Sandshrew took too much out of him. And Red figured he would have the same problem with Brock's Pokémon. "Pidgey, go." That didn't seem like the best match-up either, but hopefully Pidgey's mobility would give it an advantage against a fighting rock.

"This is my Pokémon!" Brock tossed his Pokéball. Nothing less than a levitating rock with a face and arms appeared. "Let's see if you can crack Geodude…"

"Pidgey, Sand-Attack!"

Pidgey kicked up a veil of sand. Geodude wasn't lost in it for long. It burst from the cloud intent on ramming Pidgey. The attack was dodged with little effort. Pidgey countered with a tackle of its own. It hit Geodude square in the head, but the rock Pokémon didn't even flinch.

"Wha-?"

"I told you my Pokémon are rock hard!" Brock grinned.

The battle dragged on. Every time Geodude tried to tackle Pidgey it kicked up another cloud of sand and side-stepped, then counter with an attack of its own. Finally, Geodude began to tire.

Red smiled, "I got ya'!"

At last Geodude fell, having not laid a finger on Pidgey. Brock called back his Pokémon. "Well done!" he said with a grin, "Few have the skills to push me this far. But now this match is over… Go! Onix!"

An enormous snake made of boulders erupted onto the battle field. It was as tall as the ceiling and had to coil its body to stay fully inside the ring! Red shifted back looking up at the giant. What to do now?

"Onix," Brock growled, "Body Slam!"

The rock snake crashed forward at the small bird. Pidgey tried to dodge, but Onix was much faster. It was over in an instant.

Red became worried for the first time in his short career. Was he going to… Could he lose? He recalled Pidgey and replaced him with Charmander. This was it. He had to win here or…

"Charmander, use Scratch!"

"A weak Normal-Type attack like that won't do a thing against Onix!" Brock laughed. Just before Charmander's claws struck they started to glow, as if they were reflecting the light from the florescent lights overhead. When they hit, Onix flew back and fell to the side. "Wh-was that Metal Claw?"

Red smirked. "It's over!" he said, confidence restored.

"Don't get cocky just yet!" Brock snapped back, "Onix, Rock Tomb!"

Onix got back up and slammed its tail into the ground. The ground near Charmander crashed together around him.

"Use Metal Claw to break the rocks!" Red ordered. Charmander broke free, but was clearly taxed by the heavy blow. "What now? Tch…"

"Onix, again!"

More rocks came crashing toward Charmander. It was able to dodge most, but the effort and the many glancing blows were taking their toll. Now Red could see why people gave up so easily. Against Onix, he felt so helpless. How could anyone win against such a monster? He felt a bead of sweat trail down the side of his face. "Blue's moved on…"

"What was that?" Brock asked.

"Blue's not here. He didn't give up here! So neither! Will! I!" The sweat fell from Red's chin. "Charmander!"

In that moment Charmander's entire body began to glow.

* * *

Finally finished! That took far too long. I like it though. More soon (I hope). On a completely unrelated note, there's a poll on one of my other stories on my profile. Check it out if you care to.


	6. Heat Rising!

Haven't thought about this one in a while. I think I'm coming into my own as a writer. Though, my YouTube channel has been getting in the way lately. I should try to divide my time better. Enough of that, let's get on to "the exciting conclusion!"

* * *

"What's happening?" Red cried as Charmander became nothing but a silhouette of white light.

"It's- it's evolving!" Brock stammered.

Charmander's shape grew and a horn shape appeared on the back of his head. When the light faded, Charmander's body had turned fire red. Red checked his Pokédex.

"Now you're Charmeleon…" Red breathed. Both Red and his Pokémon smiled. "Let's go!"

"You just lucked out when your Pokémon evolved!" Brock declared, "You still can't beat my Onix!"

"We'll see about that, take a taste of our razor sharp Metal Claw!"

Charmeleon launched forward and raked his steel-hard claws against Onix. But as devastating as the blow was, Onix still had plenty of fight left.

"Onix, attack from underground!" Brock ordered.

Onix slammed head first into the floor of the gym and disappeared under the rock. The entire building began to shake.

"I guess we'll just have to smoke you out…"

Charmeleon knew what to do right away. He darted to the hole Onix dug and released a Smokescreen attack into it. Onix burst from under the gym floor, bringing a cloud of smoke black as pitch with it.

"Flamethrower!"

Charmeleon released a blast of fire that reached his opponent's face, which was near the sealing two stories up. Onix's face was charred, it barely had the strength to hold its self up.

"How could your Pokémon learn such a powerful attack so young?" Brock demanded.

"We're not amateurs like the opponents you're accustomed to facing," Red answered.

Brock steadied his shaken nerves. "You're right. You're not. But you've clearly pushed your Pokémon to its breaking point."

Brock was right. Flamethrower was too much for Charmeleon at such a tender age. He was exhausted, but so was Onix. The fight was to be determined by one last exchange.

Onix coiled around the entire battlefield. There was nowhere Charmeleon could escape to. It lunged forward in a tackle, but Charmeleon still had the strength to leap into the air. While it avoided the bulk of Onix's attack, the tall spike on Onix's head clipped the fire Pokémon.

"Charmeleon! Grab onto its horn!" He complied. "Now use Slash!"

Charmeleon raked his claws down the top of Onix's head. The giant rock snake bucked and twisted with all its remaining might. Charmeleon was tossed violently from his opponent, but landed on his feet. Just as he steadied himself, Onix brought its tail down on its opponent. Charmeleon had only enough time to roll out of the way. Because he didn't have the time to see what direction he was going, he found himself falling down the hole Onix dug earlier.

"I've got you now!" Brock grinned.

Onix pummeled the entrance of the hole with its tail. Dirt and rock fragments cascaded down the hole in an improvised Rock Throw attack. If Charmeleon stayed down there too long, he'd be buried alive!

Just as Red was ready to throw in the towel (only for the sake of Charmeleon's life), he saw Charmeleon pop up from the spot Onix had after the Smokescreen. He used his claws to climb up the side of the tunnel, Red realized, that's my buddy! Charmeleon was now behind Onix. Neither Pokémon, nor Trainer, could see the small lizard behind Onix's bulk.

"Ember!"

Onix turned just in time to see Charmeleon's burning tail smash directly into its nose. The battle was too much for either of them and they collapsed.

"Charmeleon, are you alright?" Red asked his partner. The fire Pokémon stood just for a moment. Onix didn't have a prayer, it was out cold. "Charmeleon, you did it! You won!" Charmeleon started to celebrate, but was too weak. Red rushed out onto the battlefield and caught him just before he fell.

"I took you for granted and so, I lost," Brock said as he recalled his unconscious Onix. He started to walk over to Red and Charmeleon. "As proof of your victory, I confer to you this…" he held out his closed fist, "the official Pokémon League Boulderbadge." Brock opened his hand to reveal a grey hexagon with a raised square in the middle.

Red took the badge, "Thank you, sir."

"Just having the Boulderbadge makes your Pokémon more powerful. It also enables the use of the move 'Flash' outside of battle."

"The move 'Flash'?"

"I'm sure it will come in handy on your journey. Of course, a Pokémon must know the move Flash to use it." Red recalled his exhausted Charmeleon and turned to leave with a friendly wave. "Wait, take this with you." Brock handed Red a brown CD with the number 39 on it.

"What's this?" Red asked.

"A TM." Red's quizzical look warranted a brief explanation. "A technical machine contains a move for a Pokémon. Using the TM teaches the move it contains to a Pokémon. A TM is good for only one use. So when you use one, pick the Pokémon carefully."

"But I couldn't take this," Red said, trying to hand the TM back.

Brock wouldn't hear any of it. "After that battle, you deserve it. I'm sure you'll make good use of it. After all, it contains the move Rock Tomb, the move that just gave you so much trouble."

Red smiled widely. "Thanks, sir!" He turned to leave again, but stopped after only a few steps. "I almost forgot," he said, "How do you use it?"

"You press the disk to the Pokémon's head, of course."

"You press the… Never mind, I'll figure it out."

As Red made his way to the door the warm-up trainer asked him from atop one of the boulders, "So you won, right?" Red flashed the thumbs up. "Good." After Red left the building the kid laid back and stared at the sealing. No wonder he smoked me with a Pikachu, he thought. He was snapped out of his thoughts by the door opening and shutting. Another challenger had arrived. Here we go again!

Red returned to the Pokémon Center to heal his exhausted Pokémon. His win hadn't really sunk in yet. In one of the rooms at the Pokémon Center Red released his Pokémon. Pidgey and Pikachu were clearly surprised to see Charmeleon. Pidgey kept looking for Charmander. "Look at this," Red said, producing the Boulderbadge. "This is the Boulderbadge we won together. This was the first hurtle to the Pokémon League." His Pokémon cheered. It wasn't going to get any easier, but if he could pass this test, Red figured he could pass any test.

One down, seven to go!

* * *

Here's another one I like but never work on. Though there was a very specific reason for my stalling on this one. I cut the last chapter wrong and it painted me into a corner. It took me a while to figure out how to fill up the extra space, but my schedule forced me to get it done. It's funny to see my author's note at the beginning. I was just thinking when I was trying to find a way to finish this that it was this story that I really gained some maturity in my writing. I guess I was right. Well, I suppose we'll see.

…

I'm going to be referring a lot of people to Duel 26 of _Darkness_ (again), aren't I?


	7. A Friend in Need

I like Fire (by which I mean this story, though I **am** a major pyromaniac). I'm glad when I get around to it. This is when the story should take off. I feel distant from Fire sometimes, but I hope some others can enjoy this as much as I do. Wow. That was way too sincere. Um… Underpants. That is all.

* * *

Red spent one last night in Pewter City Pokémon Center since it was getting late. The next morning, Red made his way to the Pewter Museum. He probably wouldn't be back for a while, so why not stop in to see the sights?

When he paid addition, someone behind the counter stopped him before he could enter. He saw the badge on the man's lab coat that said he was a member of the museum's research staff. "You're a Pokémon trainer, aren't you?" the scientist asked. Red nodded. "Where are you from?"

"Pallet," he said.

"Than you must know Professor Oak!" Red nodded again. "I need your help. This…" the scientist handed something to Red, "needs to be delivered to the lab on Cinnabar Island." Red looked down at the item he had received. It was a transparent yellow-orange stone. It had been polished into a glossy oval that reflected the light of the florescent bulbs above. The closer to the center, the more the yellows turned to orange and the oranges turned to red.

"Cinnabar is pretty far south of here," Red noted, "Across the sea."

"That's right!"

"I'm sorry," Red tried to hand the item back, "I can't. I'm not going to Cinnabar yet. I won't be for a while."

"That's fine," the scientist replied, "This 'Old Amber' has waited over 90 million years to get to that lab. Take your time."

"Alright," Red said, putting the Amber in his backpack, "I won't let you down."

"I'd expect nothing less from a friend of Oak!"

Red never recalled saying he was Oak's friend, but since he was he just decided to forget it. If he was ever in Cinnabar, he'd find the lab and drop the Amber off. Easy enough. Red continued inside, to the exhibits. They had everything from ancient Pokémon fossils, to deep sea exploration vehicles, to models of spacecraft. Red took a liking to a particular Pokémon skeleton. It was about five feet tall and long fingers that would have supported wings. It had a long, aero-shaped tail and menacing tooth lined jaw. Red would have liked to have met a Pokémon like this. Too bad they were all extinct…

Red left Pewter City behind around noon. He began down Route 3 where he met a familiar face. Green was at the beginnings of the rocky path to Mt. Moon talking to a girl Red didn't recognize. She looked about the same age as Green and was the same height. Her hair was a different shade of brown than Green and had blue eyes. Her clothes looked expensive; the absolute worst attire for rough terrain. The expressions of the two girls were a stark contrast, Green was just as chipper and lively as ever, while the other girl just showed a disapproving frown at anything she saw. He continued down the path, waving lightly when Green noticed him and called him over.

"This is a friend of mine," Green said to the girl she was talking to.

"Call me Red."

"This is Lane," Green said, gesturing toward the other girl, "I'm helping her out."

"I need a bodyguard," Lane said. Red didn't like her tone, just short of condescending. "There are several… undesirable characters along this path."

Red looked at Green with his usual blank expression. "How much is she paying you?"

Green held up two fingers and wore a goofy grin, "Two thousand." Red shook his head. "Why don't you join us?" she asked sweetly, "Just us two girls _all _alone? Who knows what could happen."

"You're a black belt in a bunch of martial arts, some I can't even pronounce," Red said, "I think you'll be fine."

"You are?" Lane asked.

"My dad was kind of overprotective…" Green said quietly.

"I don't want any part of one of your shenanigans," Red crossed his arms, "They never end well."

"Aww, come on," she started batting her eyelashes at Red. He looked away as soon as he recognized Green's routine. "You're going this way anyway. And it's not like it'd be that much…"

Red groaned. "Fine." He conceded not because he knew she was right, but because he knew that if he refused, she'd just grab him by the shirt collar and drag him along anyway.

"Great!" Green happily exclaimed. She turned to Lane and turned away from Red. "So since there's two of us now…" she whispered.

"You can split the two thousand. That's the amount we agreed on."

"Shoot. You drive a hard bargain."

"I know."

"Are you two done yet?" Red called from a fair way down the path.

"W-wait up!" Green called. The girls caught up to Red. They walked down the mostly straight path chatting, though Green did most of the talking. Finally, they reached one of the many small, craggy plateaus that cross the path. It was only two, two and a half feet tall, so Red and Green easily vaulted up the minor obstacle.

Before they could take a step, the two heard a sharp "Ahem!" behind them. "A little help?" Lane ordered impatiently.

"With what?" Red asked, doing his best not to lose his temper.

"I can't jump over a hill like that in this dress," her tone was condescending and Red lost it for just a moment.

"Than maybe you shouldn't be hiking in a nice dress," Red snapped.

Green quickly jabbed him in the side and offered her hand Lane. "It's not a problem at all, don't mind him."

Green helped Lane up the crag and the trio continued. After an awkward silence, Lane spoke up. "So Red," she asked easily "You think my dress is nice?" Red just ignored her.

Just as the three were about to look for a place to rest and eat, a young trainer appeared before the group. "Oh, look," the kid said in a snotty tone, "Little Laney has found some friends. Are they as bad at Pokémon battles as you?"

"These are my personal Pokémon trainers," Lane said stepping forward (Green had to hold Red back from protesting), "They are going to be your opponents in this Pokémon battle."

"I didn't even challenge you to a battle yet…"

Red leaned over to Green. She caught his clearly displeased expression out of the corner of her eye. "I get the feeling that we're being used…" he whispered in a less-than-friendly tone. Green could only grin sheepishly and start batting her eyelashes again.

"Green," Lane snapped her fingers, "Aren't you going to send out your Pokémon?"

"That's it," Red growled.

"It's okay," Green assured as she withdrew a Pokéball from her bag, "I'll handle this."

"That's not what I…" Red started, but by then she was already squared off with her opponent.

Lane took the two steps back to stand next to Red and be out of the way of the battle. "You didn't need a bodyguard at all, did you?" Red asked, trying to dull the edge in his voice.

"Well, maybe not _need_," Lane said, "But this boy and his friends do pester me a lot. You can never be too careful, and if I happen to give him a few good lumps, it's a bonus."

Green and her opponent had already released their Pokémon. The boy had a Rattata, standard for the area. Green's Pokémon on the other hand, was one nobody recognized. It was a green, speckled, quadrupedal dinosaur-like creature with a red blossom on its back.

"Get ready, Ivysaur!"

"Rattata," the young trainer ordered, "Use Tackle!"

"Stop it with Vine Whip, Ivysaur!" Green's Ivysaur responded promptly, launching vines from under its blossom. The vines connected with Rattata's head, stopping it dead in its tracks. "Now lift it up." Again, Ivysaur reacted swiftly, coiling its vines around Rattata's midsection. Before it or its trainer could react, Rattata was lifted over everyone's heads. "Do you surrender?" Green asked confidently, "Or does he have to drop it?"

The boy hesitated, than recalled his Rattata and ran.

"Oho ho ho ho! That's right, little boy," Lane cheered, "Run home to mommy crying! Oho ho ho ho ho ho!"

Oh yeah, we're being used…

* * *

Despite what I said at the beginning of the chapter, I didn't expect _this much_ of the story to be told this quickly! My predictions about this story are getting scary. Like Ivan Vasilyevich Grozny. Hopefully this story won't go crazy and start blowing up people tied to powder kegs… Unlikely. Green's full of personality. That's good. And I got some ideas for later in the story.

Yeah, and for those of you noticed, (not that anyone actually reads this to notice it at all, but whatever) yes, that was Mai Kujaku's laugh verbatim. It's the standard laugh for Lane's character archetype, so I was lazy and just used the template. I know that must be a shock, me being lazy…


	8. Style Points

I've been looking forward to the opportunity to write this chapter and yet I **still** wait until the last minute to do it! Hopefully this will have been worth the wait. (With my track record?)

* * *

Red wouldn't even look at Lane, let alone speak to her. Green wanted to talk to him, but she knew better. He smoldered in anger as the group ate their lunch. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and it all came from the lone male in the group. Lane wasn't oblivious to his anger, but she ignored it, which only made it worse.

Finally, Green couldn't handle it any longer. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, already dragging him by the arm away from their companion. Red barely got to his feet when she started whispering crossly at him. "Will you calm down, already? You're taking this way too personally."

"I can't believe you let her talk to you that way!" Red growled quietly. "If she weren't a girl…"

"I know she's a little… coarse," Green agreed, "But I have to do this."

Red cocked his head at her, "Why?"

Green looked away, a hint of color rising in her fair cheeks. "I ran out of money, okay…?" she huffed.

"But how?" he asked, "You've been battling Pokémon trainers, haven't you?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"You're supposed to bet money on the matches."

"Supposed to what now?" Red had to force himself not to grin at his friend. Green was really smart, especially for her age, but she could still do the dumbest things. Obviously, Red wasn't doing a good job of hiding his amusement, because Green was staring daggers at him. "Don't give me that look," Green snarled. She sighed to cool her own temper. "I've been living on berries and Pokémon Center cafeteria food since I left Viridian City."

"You don't have to put up with this," he said sincerely to her, "I'll help you out if you need it."

Green sighed. "Thanks," she said, and for a moment, Red hoped he'd gotten through to her, "But I made a promise. And I'm going to keep it. If you want to go, that's okay. But I'm staying." She walked back to the picnic sight, leaving Red to want to beat his head against one of the ample stone walls along the path. That seemed pointless though, so he rejoined the girls.

The tension had subsided, finally. As the three finished eating, Lane spoke up. Neither Red nor Green had noticed the silence until then. "So," the well-dressed girl said, "Did you two have a good talk? Work out your little problem?" It was stunning how fast Lane's tone could set Red off.

"You're _trying_ to get under my skin, aren't you?" Red snapped.

"Why on earth would I try to do that?" Lane asked, though her smile was a pretty loud "yes".

"Can you two at least _try_ to get along?" Green groaned.

"I thought that's what I was doing," Lane said as smugly as ever. Red got up wordlessly and walked away down the path.

Green sighed heavily. "You know, we are doing a favor for you. The least you could do is try to be nice."

"Oh, but don't you get the urge to mess with him whenever he gets to be such a stick in the mud?"

Green thought for a moment, watching Lane carefully. "Well, yeah," she said cautiously, "But only I'm allowed to do that."

"Aha!" Lane said knowingly as she got up to follow Red, "I didn't know you two were…"

"What?" Green asked defensively as she followed suit, "Didn't know we were what? Hey!"

Lane and Green moved quickly down the path. Now it was Green's turn to be teased by Lane and she was much more entertaining. Both of them stopped chattering when they heard a loud crack like lightening around the bend. They rushed around the corner. Red was standing there before a group of young trainers, including the one Green defeated before. Between the group were two Pokémon; a Pikachu and a very unconscious Pidgey.

Lane started to laugh again, "Another victory for me! You simpletons are no match for my Pokémon trainers!"

"I wasn't battling for you," Red said in his usual monotone. Obviously the battle put him in high spirits.

"I can take it from here," Green told her friend.

"Not a chance," he retorted quickly, "these guys are ours!"

As promised, he took on the two remaining trainers in the group. He won easily, and the group left the scene quickly. Afterword, Red let his team enjoy the beautiful day after their wins.

"You certainly are an impressive trainer, Red," Lane said honestly. It was the first time Lane spoke in a way that didn't infuriate him.

"I like to be good at what I do."

"Though you don't seem to have many Pokémon." There's the anger again. "You should probably try to catch some more."

"This isn't all I have," Red said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you're just focusing on a few at a time," Lane realized in a patronizing tone. "Well, that's one way to approach Pokémon training."

Green looked desperately for a way to change the subject. She spied the yellow rodent next to Red's leg. "Ummm, is that a Pikachu?" she asked finally. Red nodded. "I thought they lived near power plants."

"I found him in the Viridian Forest," Red reported, "Not sure why he was there."

"What an adorable creature!" Lane cried and rushed to grab him. With a startled squeak, Pikachu darted behind Red's leg, ready to zap any threat.

"That's no way to approach a Pikachu," Green scolded Lane. Green bent down so she was about the same height as Pikachu. She reached out her hand slowly. "It's okay, Pikachu," she told him reassuringly. Slowly, Pikachu moved to Green's hand and sniffed it lightly. When she smiled at him, he crawled up Red's pant leg and onto his shoulder. This, in turn, shooed Pidgey off his perch. Once Pidgey settled on Red's other shoulder, it squawked angrily into Red's ear at Pikachu. He recalled the pair before a fight could ensue with his head in the line of fire. "I must admit," Green smiled, "I didn't think you'd raise Pokémon with such… personality."

"Yeah," Red agreed, "Tell me about it." With a smile, he patted his Charmeleon's head. "But I wouldn't trade either one of them for the world. Right, buddy?" Charmeleon snorted in agreement.

"Well this is all wonderful," Lane sighed unenthusiastically, "But maybe we should get going?"

"Great idea," Green said, pushing Red down the path before he could even take a breath to respond.

The rest of the way was twisty, but relatively flat. It was an easy hike to the mouth of Mt. Moon, and the Pokémon Center just a few feet from that. "Well, here we are," Green said motioning toward the door. "But how are you going to get home from here? Red and I have to move on."

"That's quite all right," Lane assured, "Daddy is sending the family chopper to pick me up."

"F-f-f-f-ch-ch-ch…!"

Red leaned over to Green and whispered to her, "I hate to tell you I told you so…"

"But before we part ways," Lane turned to Red with that sincerity that briefly reminds him that she's human. "The two of you are such great Pokémon Trainers. Do you think you could help me with my Pokémon?" Before even waiting for an answer, she released three small Pokémon. They were the same small mammal Pokémon, Eevee, covered in silky brown fur. The creatures stood on four short, but slender legs and had long, pointed ears. The three looked to be in excellent care, with perfect coats and bright, happy eyes. Each had a different article of pet clothing. One had a long bow in its hair, another wore a designer collar, and the last had silk booties.

"They're adorable!" Green cooed.

"Oh, I know," Lane assured, "And I know they're all healthy and strong. After all, _I_ raised them…" Red rolled his eyes, but she didn't notice. "But they can't seem to win any battles. I just don't know what to do. I'm at my wit's end!"

"That's why you hired me," Green deduced. Lane nodded, almost apologetically.

Red bent down and removed the ribbon from the first Eevee's hair. "What do you think you're doing?" Lane gasped as Red handed her the ribbon.

"The ribbon's getting in your Eevee's eyes," Red said, already moving to the next, "I bet it misses a lot."

"Y-you're right," Lane breathed. "Oh, what are you doing now?" she asked as Red removed the last of the second Eevee's booties.

"It can't get any traction with these silly things on," he said, handing them to her.

"Don't tell me my last Eevee's accessory is the problem with her battling…"

Red removed the collar and handed it to Lane. "Too tight. Probably lost its breath in battle. If you're as good as you say, the four of you should be just fine now."

Lane sighed sadly. "It will cost precious style points, but it's a sacrifice we'll just have to make!" Once again, Red rolled his eyes. Suddenly, though, Lane's sparkling blue eyes locked his. "Thank you _very_ much," she said softly, before leaning in and kissing him lightly on the cheek. Red lurched back in surprise as the giggling Lane turned and jogged toward the entrance of Mt. Moon. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon." With that she disappeared into the cave.

Red was stunned stiff, still leaning back with a stunned expression. He heard Green scoff harshly at him. He turned to see a disappointed and angry glare directed at him, her arms crossed. "What?" he asked genuinely.

Green just shook her head and walked toward the Pokémon Center. "Unbelievable!"

"Really!" Red asked helplessly, "What?" The Pokémon Center door closed behind her and although it was an automatic door, Red could have sworn she had slammed it. "I don't suppose you know what just happened," he asked Charmeleon. The Pokémon just shrugged, happy not to be involved in the strange incident. Red shook his head in exasperation. "Girls," he groaned as he made his way to the Pokémon Center.

* * *

This did everything I wanted it to, **and** it turned out slightly better than I expected. Let me know what worked **and what didn't** here. I'd really like some legitimate constructive criticism (for once).


	9. To the Moon

Another last-minute update, but Fire is easy for me to write. I've been kind of wondering about the pacing. Should I go fast, should go slower. A little feedback would be nice, but fortunately for me it's kind of been writing itself.

* * *

Red spent the night at the Pokémon Center. No sense getting two hundred feet into Mt. Moon and having to stop and make camp. Inside the Center there was a man trying to sell a Pokémon, but Red ignored him and turned in early. Some of the Trainers were woken up by the inexplicable arrival of a helicopter, but other than that, the night was uneventful. The next day Red left the Pokémon Center to see Green waiting for him, tapping her foot impatiently. "You're late."

"I didn't know we were meeting."

"Well I didn't think I had to," Green sighed, "I thought it would be obvious we were going through Mt. Moon together." Mt. Moon wasn't the biggest mountain path in Kanto. Far from it, but for a wayward traveler or inexperienced Trainer could get lost and the mountain was filled with wild Pokémon.

"I didn't know you needed me to hold your hand," Red grinned briefly.

"I don't need you to protect me!" Green returned defensively. Red turned toward the mountain entrance and rolled his eyes remembering the conversation they had had only a day ago when they met up on Route 3. "Hey! Wait up!" Green stomped before running to catch up.

Mt. Moon, being a cave, was fairly dark. It wasn't too hard to see after your eyes adjusted to the low light, but you couldn't see very far. It was easy to see how people got turned around in a place like this. It didn't take long for a flock of Zubat to appear for Red and Green. Red's Pikachu was more than enough to dispatch the group harassing him. He even caught one. Green and her female Nidoran had just a little more trouble without the aid of any electric attacks, but they were also able to defeat the Zubat and caught one as well.

Red wanted to examine every inch of the cave, but Green was far too impatient for that. He had to settle for a brief glance into the many natural chambers of Mt. Moon hoping there would be something in plain sight to warrant further investigation. Most of the time there was nothing. Green did, however, find an odd, pitted rock. It was smooth, black, and seemed to sparkle when it caught light.

"You're rock collecting now?" Red asked.

"Buzz off," Green pouted, "It's not just an ordinary rock." Green took a closer look at the rock to make sure she recognized it. "It's a Moon Stone."

"Are you trying to tell me that thing's from the moon?"

"I don't think so," Green admitted, "But I heard it can make some Pokémon evolve." That was good enough for Red and he turned to leave the chamber they found the Moon Stone in. Green easily caught up, "Stop trying to ditch me!"

As they continued toward the exit, they came across a few Trainers. Nothing too noteworthy. That is, until they came across a strange man in a black jumpsuit with a big red "R" emblazoned on his chest. "What do you kids think you're doing here?" the man demanded.

"Passing through," Green shot back defensively, "What's it to you?"

"You're not going to get your hands on those fossils!" the man told them, apparently not hearing what Green had said, "They all belong to Team Rocket!" Immediately, he sent out a Raticate, a 2 foot tall, pudgy, light brown-furred rodent with large, menacing buck teeth.

"Well, that settles that," Red sighed as he drew a Pokéball.

"Oh, no you don't!" Green cut him off, "You got the last three battles, it's my turn." Green withdrew a Pokéball. From it appeared a Butterfree, a three and a half foot tall butterfly.

"You can't make sport of us Rockets! Raticate, use Super Fang!"

The foe's Raticate lunged at Green's Butterfree, but the nimble bug Pokémon danced through the air to dodge. Butterfree even seemed to be enjoying toying with the Rocket's Raticate. "Butterfree, use Stun Spore!" Green ordered. After a few more flips to avoid another few bites, Butterfree raised altitude a little and started beating its wings at Raticate, losing a sparkling goldish powder. As the spores began to cover and cling to Raticate's fur. As the move started to take effect, the rat Pokémon seemed to seize up in pain. "Now Tackle it!" Butterfree responded dutifully with a charge.

"Tackle it back, Raticate!" the Rocket ordered. The two Pokémon collided and even though Raticate was paralyzed by the Stun Spore, its greater bulk gave it the advantage. Raticate easily knocked its opponent away, Butterfree tumbling through the air.

"Shoot. Butterfree, try your Gust attack!" Green ordered. Butterfree started batting its wings again, but this time, instead of a cloud of toxic powder, a small hurricane blasted at the nearly immobile Raticate. The attack hit dead-on and sent Raticate into a rock wall some ways away. "Gotcha!"

The Rocket begrudgingly recalled his unconscious Raticate. "You haven't seen the last of Team Rocket!" the stranger promised before throwing something at the ground and disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

"That was weird…" Green noted, Red nodding in agreement. "…But at least we won! Way to go, Butterfree!" Red couldn't help but smile at his friend's enthusiasm. Red was expecting to see Green recall her Pokémon, but instead, she let it land on her arm. She pulled something out of her bag, a purple spray bottle, and started spraying her Pokémon with the contents.

"What on earth are you doing?" Red asked his friend.

"Using a Potion, of course," Green answered easily. She finished with the item and recalled her Pokémon. "That Raticate was pretty tough," she admitted, "That Tackle took more out of Butterfree than it should have, so I healed it." Surprisingly, Green knew Red well enough to tell one of his seemingly blank expressions from another. "Potions restore some of your Pokémon's strength lost in battle. Didn't you know that?" Red instantly turned on his heel and continued through the mountain path. "You totally didn't know! I bet you used all your money on Pokéballs, didn't you?" Red's pace sped up. "You did! And you made fun of _me_ for _my_ mistakes!"

Green kept on the subject, but Red stopped when he encountered a distraction… Rather, when he encountered another new Pokémon. Never a dull moment…

* * *

I suppose I could continue, but that might end up being 2000 words or more. My intent is after I finish my stories, I'll go back someday and fix them up a little, so I wonder if this and the next chapter won't be one someday. I also could extrapolate on things from the last three chapters, so I could theoretically turn this into two chapters on its own if I really tried (thought that's unlikely). With the help of some **constructive **_**criticism**_ I feel I could make this something really worth the time I spend on it.

Huh. I'm getting this done with **hours** to spare. That's a new one for me…


	10. A Fight for Fossils

I intended to have this done by now… Like I mentioned before, this really could have been part of the last chapter. Mt. Moon is kind of hard to deal with because of all the little, unimportant things that happen there; specifically the introduction of Team Rocket and the discovery of the fossils. One might wonder what Cambrian Era fossils are doing in the middle of a mountain, but what do I know…

* * *

Red spotted a small pink Pokémon skipping along one of the corridors. It had a tightly curled up tail and tiny wings on its back. Its large ears had brown tips and waggled when the creature heard Red's approaching footsteps. It turned around to reveal its bright eyes and stubby limbs. It seemed perplexed by Red; perhaps it hadn't seen a human before.

"It's a Clefairy!" Red whispered so as not to startle the possibly shy Pokémon.

"It's a-dorable!" Green cheered, showing no such restraint.

"Clefairy's hardly ever seen by people…" Red mumbled to himself, not paying Green's antics any mind. "I can't miss this opportunity…!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Green interjected as she shoved Red briskly out of the way.

"Go find your own Clefairy!" Red groaned.

"I'll let you catch the next rare Pokémon we find, but Clefairy is all mine!"

The Clefairy didn't seem to care which of the strange creatures won the argument, or even what it was about. It just wanted the noise to go away. When Green sent out her Ivysaur, the Clefairy seemed to catch on to what they wanted. Clefairy leapt forward and batted Ivysaur on the head with its little fist. The Pound attack only irritated Ivysaur at best.

"Use Vine Whip to immobilize it!" Green ordered. Ivysaur did so, his vines far too fast for Clefairy to outrun. The little imp struggled against Ivysaur's grip and Green lost what little self-control she had left. She rushed over to the two Pokémon and wrapped her arms around the already held Clefairy. "You're just too cute!" she squealed. Without batting an eyelash, Clefairy bopped Green in the nose like it had Ivysaur's head. Red guessed from its expression that Clefairy was disappointed at not being taken seriously. "Cute and spirited…" Green noted rubbing her now sore nose, Red nodding in agreement.

Still suspended in the air, Clefairy started to sing a hypnotic song. "That's not good," Green said to herself, having encountered a similar song from another Pokémon before. "Ivysaur, use Stun Spore!" Despite his grogginess, Ivysaur launched a spray of golden powder from the blossom on his back. The cloud enveloped Clefairy just as Ivysaur's vines dropped it. Ivysaur was out cold and snoring, but Clefairy was unable to move. Green took the opportunity to throw a Pokéball, capturing Clefairy on her first try. "Woohoo! I got it!"

"Congratulations…" Red mumbled irritably as he passed her along the pathway.

"Oh, you're not still sore about me catching Clefairy are you?" As Green spoke something caught Red's eye. The Pokéball that contained the newly caught Clefairy shimmered and vanished on the cave floor.

"So that's what happens…" Red said to himself. Pokémon Trainers are only supposed to carry up to six Pokémon at a time. Red was wondering how that was enforced, now he knew.

Red and Green had been walking through Mt. Moon for most of the day and even Red was getting tired of all the winding corridors. Eventually, they were waylaid by a strange some strange rocks in the middle of the path.

"What are these?" Green asked, picking one up.

"Hey, stop!" a nasally voice called. A nerdy-looking man stepped out of one of the many chambers and confronted the pair. "Those fossils are mine! You can't have any!"

"We don't want to take your fossils," Green told the man, putting the rock back where she found it.

"The only way you'll get one of my fossils is if you beat me in a battle!"

"But we don't-" Green started to say. She stopped when Red pushed past her.

"The match will be best of three, alright?"

"Fine by me," Red agreed as he sent out Pidgey. Surprisingly, neither Red nor Green recognized the Fossil Guy's Pokémon.

The Fossil Guy's Pokémon looked like a living mass of purple sludge. It had beady little black pupils on fair-sized eyes. It had what appeared to be two arms and a mouth that worked like any other creatures, but the entire thing was made of slime! Red made a point not to smell it because he had a feeling he could guess what it smelled like.

"It's called Grimer," Green relayed from her Pokédex as she tried to back away from the slime creature. "It's a Poison-Type Pokémon. Watch out Red!"

"Grimer, use Poison Gas attack!" the Trainer ordered.

"Not a chance! Pidgey, Gust!"

Grimer billowed a noxious purple gas from its mouth at Pidgey. As ordered, Pidgey responded by whipping up small tornado that not only harmlessly dissipated the Poison Gas, but also sent Grimer flying into a wall.

"Uh-oh, Grimer, use Pound now!"

"Too slow! Pidgey, Quick Attack!"

Grimer launched forward after Pidgey, but it dodged so fast it seemed to vanish. The attack came a breath later from behind, knocking Grimer out cold. Pidgey's speed stunned the other Trainer, and even Green, silent.

"That's one for our team," Red noted confidently, a feeling mirrored by his Pidgey.

"But how could a Pidgey move that fast?" the Fossil Guy gasped as he recalled his unconscious Grimer.

"Simple," Red smiled, "He's no ordinary Pidgey!" Pidgey nodded strongly before being recalled himself.

"Whatever," the Fossil Guy sneered, "you won't get lucky twice! Koffing, go!"

"Then I choose Zubat!"

Red's pale blue eyeless bat was met with a strange floating purple ball. It had nodes all over its body that leaked foul-smelling gas. It had dopy-looking eyes and a skull-and-crossbones under its perpetually grinning mouth.

"Koffing, use Poison Gas attack!"

The foe's Koffing belched out a cloud of poisonous smoke like Grimer. This time, however, the gas enveloped Zubat. It didn't seem to do anything and the mere beating of its wings was enough to dissipate the toxin.

"Why didn't it work?" the Fossil Guy complained.

"I thought so," Red grinned, "Poison Gas doesn't work on other Poison Pokémon. Zubat, Wing Attack!"

Zubat sped forward, smacking Koffing in what would be its nose if it had one. Koffing tumbled through the air for a moment before catching itself.

"Quick, Koffing, do something! Tackle attack!"

"Zubat, Leach Life!"

Koffing charged right into Zubat, but when the two Pokémon connected, Zubat wrapped its wings around the foe. With the foe's Koffing unable to shake Zubat's grip, Zubat sunk its fangs into Koffing. Green had to stifle a gag at the thought of biting a bag of toxic gas. It seemed to work out fine for Zubat, though, as once it let go of Koffing it dropped like lead, unconscious.

"We win!" Red announced.

"No, no, no, NO!" the Fossil Guy complained, throwing a minor temper tantrum, "Get them, Voltorb!" When the Pokémon appeared, it looked like a Pokéball with eyes! It had no arms or legs or mouth, just two angry-looking eyes.

"Haven't had enough?!" Red threatened as he recalled Zubat, "Charmeleon!" Red's partner appeared, his flaming tail illuminating the cave.

"Voltorb, blow them away with Sonic Boom!"

"That's nothing! Charmeleon, Flamethrower!"

The foe's Voltorb loosed a blast of sound that Charmeleon easily dodged. A moment later it was over when Charmeleon breathed fire on his opponent.

"Okay, I'll share…" the Fossil Guy whined as he recalled his Voltorb.

"But we don't want any-" Green started when Red brushed past her again.

"Just take one and let's go." That was all the convincing Green needed. She picked up a rock with an interesting helix pattern and caught up with Red.

It wasn't that much longer before Red and Green finally made it out of Mt. Moon. Not a moment too soon. They had gotten out to Route 4 just in time to see the sun set. They set up camp out of the way of the exit and settled down for the night.

"So are you going to keep Zubat in your party?" Green asked while they were eating.

"Not yet," Red answered simply, "I want to build a perfect team that no one can beat. Once I'm Champion, then I'll work on the rest."

Green smiled at his answer. "But to be Champion," she said coyly, "You'll have to go through me first.

Red didn't have an answer for that.

* * *

I think I've found a system for this akin to the one I use in _I am Darkness_. I'm also developing the finer points of the various characters and their motivations. I hope Red's personality is coming through clearly. He **does** have one.


	11. To Truly Master a Move

Normally I'd skip by Route 4 and head straight to Cerulean City, but I like the subject(s) of this next chapter far too much to pass it by. This is the kind of thing that would be cut in a movie for length's sake, but I don't really have much in the way of time constraints. So, yeah, pointless chapter is a go!

* * *

The sun peeked over the horizon, glistening off the snow-caped Mt. Moon. Red and Green rose early, packed up their respective camping gear and set out down the path to Cerulean City. They expected an easy road ahead, but the path was rocky and uneven. Honestly, it was hardly a path at all. Just a pass in the mountains. It took the better part of the morning just to get half way down the trail. As they continued, they spotted a strange sight in the mountains. Two large yurts in the middle of the mountain pass. Neither Red nor Green knew what would possess anyone to set up such things in such a remote and harsh location. As they approached, they noticed two men in gi, meditating in front of the tents. Over the respective doors of the two structures were symbols. One was that of a fist and the other was a foot. As soon as the two kids got close, the meditating men (who could have been brothers with their spiked black hair and similar facial features) sprung to life and their feet.

"So, you've come to train with me?" they said in perfect unison. Even their voices and mannerisms were practically identical! "Train with you?!" they barked at each other in stereo, "They're here to train with me!"

"Excuse me," Green broke in, "But we're not here to train with anyone. We were just passing through and curious."

"Oh, well in that case-" one of the karate men said happily before being shoved aside by the other.

"-It's your lucky day! Because if you just train with me…" the second said before getting shoved out of the way by the first.

"-If you train with _me_, I can teach one of your Pokémon…"

Suddenly the other one was up and they started talking in unison again, "The **ultimate move**!" For the first time, Red started paying attention to the conversation rather than trying to count all the different grasses that he could see on the path. "Mega Punch/Kick!"

"What?! How could your inaccurate, unreliable Mega Kick doesn't hold a candle to my masterful punching technique!"

"How dare you! Your puny Mega Punch is nothing compared to my earth-shattering kicking technique!"

"Why not use both?" Green asked sincerely.

The punching advocate gasped in horror at the idea of it. "How naive must you be to think kicking would ever be necessary?"

The kicking advocate scoffed. "Well, unlike you, _I_ would never turn away a student for creative (if misguided) thinking! Come with me miss, and I'll show one of your Pokémon the secrets of Mega Kick!"

"You seem like an intelligent young man," the other said pointing at Red, "Come with me and I can teach one of your Pokémon the amazing move Mega Punch!"

Red and Green mulled it over for a moment. The idea of teaching their Pokémon new moves was really appealing, but these two were crazy in their silly rivalry. Suddenly, Green was struck with an idea. She asked to speak to Red and they started whispering to each other. At first it seemed like they were working out some kind of plan, but without warning, they started shouting at each other.

"Have you gone crazy?!" Green demanded, "It's obvious that Mega Kick is the better choice!

"Not a chance!" Red returned with little of his usual subtlety, "Mega Punch is the better move!"

The two masters beamed at having a student en potentia so enthusiastic about their respective crafts. They called them into the yurts, not noticing their new students flash each other the thumbs up just before they entered. The yurt was spacious on the inside, only a rolled up sleeping mat in one corner. The punching master asked which Pokémon Red wanted to learn Mega Punch. He chose his Pikachu. Since his electricity didn't work on ground-type Pokémon at all, Red decided Pikachu needed some strong physical attacks. Red released Pikachu and the lesson began. The motions of Mega Punch were easy and straightforward. There were some subtleties to the art of the straight punch, but it took only a few seconds to master. It was turning that simple motion into a battle move that could crack rocks and fell Pokémon twice Pikachu's size that was where the difficulty lied. All kinds of talk about chi and inner focus. It was hard work, but after about an hour it was rewarded with a perfect Mega Punch.

Red thanked the master. He asked what he could do to pay the master back, but the master told him that he only needed to use Mega Punch responsibly and to its full potential. Red nodded and left the tent. As soon as he left, he saw Green exit the other tent. They smiled as they passed each other on their way to the other master. When the two entered, they explained they had seen the error of their ways. That was all the convincing the masters needed and they began teaching again. Because they had already mastered the sister technique to the one they were learning. Both were complimented as "the best student I've ever trained" according to the masters (parroting themselves again without knowing it).

"Now that Pikachu knows Mega Kick," Red said to the kicking master, "Let's go teach the other dojo a lesson!"

"Brilliant idea!" the master complimented. They left the yurt together, seeing Green and the punching master do the same. It didn't occur to either of the masters that their last students had switched sides.

"Green, I challenge you to a one on one Pokémon battle!" Red declared.

"I accept," Green returned, "I choose my Mankey!" When the Pokémon Green called on appeared, it was revealed to be an exclusively bipedal monkey with a pig-nose and angry eyes. Its stiff fur was a tan color with brown around its paws and the tip of its tail.

"My choice is Pikachu." Pikachu was already out of his ball and scampered forward. "Pikachu, use Mega Kick!"

"Mankey, use Mega Punch!"

The two Pokémon darted after each other. Pikachu, the faster, kicked at Mankey, but the pig monkey dodged all the same. Mankey hit Pikachu with its Mega Punch, but Pikachu caught the attack. "Thundershock!" Red ordered. Pikachu complied, zapping Mankey. When Mankey fell back, Pikachu Mega Kicked it in the nose. The battle continued trading blows. It wasn't until Pikachu landed a Mega Punch simultaneously with a Mega Kick from Mankey that the masters realized they had been duped.

"Hey!" they both declared, "You're using both moves!"

"That's right," Green said. She walked over and picked up her exhausted Mankey since both it and Pikachu were at the limits of their endurance and a decisive winner was far off. "Both Mega Punch and Mega Kick are useful moves. Why wouldn't you want them both?"

"Mega Punch is fast and accurate," Red explained as he picked up his own tired Pokémon, "But it doesn't do the kind of damage Mega Kick can. They make up for each other's weaknesses. It's like teaming up two different types of Pokémon."

"Well, I guess Mega Punch _can_ set up more opportunities to use Mega Kick…" One master said.

"And maybe Mega Kick _could_ work as a finishing move for some of the tougher opponents…" the other master admitted.

"See," Green said cheerfully, "Both moves have value! Now you can work together to make an even better style of battling!"

"Work with him? No way, Mega Kick is still clearly the superior move!"

"What?! It's obvious that Mega Punch is the core of any effective strategy!"

"Mega Kick!"

"Mega Punch!"

"Mega Kick!"

"Mega Punch!"

"Green?" Red asked, slight irritation breaking through his monotone.

"Yeah, Red?" she replied in a daze.

"I'm leaving."

"Good idea." They left the two karate masters to their argument and continued down the rough path to Cerulean City. After a little more hiking, they made it to a paved road leading to the city. "I kind of wish we could have helped them get over there disagreement. I guess they'll have to sort out the rest themselves."

"They probably will," Red said indifferently. "They're so similar they fight like brothers. Who knows, maybe they are…"

"Actually," Green giggled, "They remind me of two other thickheaded boys who could be brothers and fight all the time."

"Who?" Red asked. Green only started laughing and broke for the city creeping over the horizon. "Wait!" Red called after her, "Who is it?!"

* * *

Yeah, pointless. I just love that the two guys that teach you Mega Punch and Mega Kick are standing right next to each other and you can still get both moves. I don't care that this does nothing for story or character development.

…

That's a lie, I feel like an idiot.


	12. Rivals

I'm going to take a bit of a risk with this next chapter. I hope this doesn't backfire, but there is nothing worth gaining without a little risk. With any luck, I can pick up the pace of this story else I'll be doing this 'till I'm ninety. Then again, I don't think this chapter will have much movement to it. Oops.

* * *

The sight of a populated city after hiking through the jagged paths and dark caves behind Red and Green was a welcome sight. Their first stop was the Pokémon Center in the middle of town. Both of their parties were exhausted. Once their two groups were back to full strength, they used the PC system to transfer some Pokémon. Red dropped off his Zubat and Green switched out one of her Pokémon for the Clefairy she had caught in Mt. Moon.

"Where should we go next?" Green asked as the two stepped out into the early afternoon sun. She looked around and spotted a Pokémon Gym right next door to the Pokémon Center. "I think I'll try to get another Badge…"

"I want to look around for a bit," Red said, glancing around and shielding his eyes from the bright sun with his hat.

"Really?"

"You don't have to follow me around."

"If you insist…" Green shrugged. The two parted ways, Green heading for the Gym and Red rounding a corner to the north. He spied a bridge with what looked like a group of Pokémon trainers waiting for something, perhaps challengers. Red decided to see what was going on at the bridge, but as he approached he heard a familiar voice.

"Yo, Red!" Red tugged his hat down a little lower when he recognized the owner of the voice striding past the line of trainers on the bridge. Obviously he had already beaten them once. "You're still struggling back here?" he asked cockily, "I'm doing great! I caught a bunch of strong and smart Pokémon! Here, let me see what you've caught!"

Without a further word, Blue tossed a Pokéball. From it came a strange yellow and brown creature. It had cat like ears and a human-like form. Red checked his Pokédex. "Abra… Asleep 18 hours a day? You're taking a sleeping Pokémon into battle?" Red asked skeptically.

"Just wait and see what it can do!" Blue challenged. Red sent out his Charmeleon to meet the odd Pokémon. "Your Charmander evolved, huh? That's cool, but it's not as cool as Abra's special move."

"Charmeleon, Slash!" Red ordered.

"Abra, counter with Teleport!"

"Teleport?"

Charmeleon dashed at Abra, claws ready to deliver a single decisive strike. Just before the claws struck home, Abra blinked out of existence leaving only a pillar of light. A moment later, Abra reappeared behind the perplexed Fire Pokémon. "Behind you!" Red warned, expecting some kind of strike. Charmeleon whirled around, but no attack came. Charmeleon attacked again, but just like last time, Abra blinked away. The most irritating thing was Charmeleon and red could hear it snoring the whole time. "Can it do anything other than Teleport?" Red asked irritably.

"Not until it evolves," Blue admitted, "But dodging your little fire bug is good training for it!" Just as Blue started laughing in his superiority, Charmeleon fainted a Slash attack. Abra Teleported again, but this time Charmeleon was ready when his opponent reappeared. His sharp claws raked across Abra, knocking it out in a single blow. "Wait, what happened?"

"Don't confuse us for the jokers running around here," Red warned, "Charmeleon and I are just as serious as you are!"

Blue recalled his unconscious Abra irritably. "Fine! If that's the way you want to play it…" Blue sent out his Squirtle to challenge Charmeleon. True, it had yet to evolve, but it was still a strong foe. "Try out your new Water Pulse move, Squirtle!"

"Charmeleon, use Mega Kick!" The two Pokémon had nearly identical speed. Charmeleon launched forward, ready to kick his rival square in the head haven also learned the technique from the Kicking Master. To counter, Squirtle launched a disk like blast of water at Charmeleon. The Fire Pokémon had no choice but to barrel through the strong blast. To make matters worse, Squirtle sidestepped the Mega Kick. The Water Pulse also made Charmeleon land funny and he was clearly starting to get dizzy. "Try Ember!" Red suggested. Charmeleon did, swinging his tail at Squirtle, but it ducked. Another Water Pulse sent Charmeleon tumbling through the air. As Charmeleon struggled to his feet, it was clear he couldn't tell up from down anymore and was more likely to hurt himself if he kept fighting. Red recalled his partner before he could take further damage.

"Shoot," Blue half complained, half bragged, "And I almost had that Charmeleon of yours. But if I can beat your Charmeleon, I can beat any of your wimpy Pokémon!"

Red only smiled. He tossed his next Pokéball, revealing it to be Pikachu. "Thundershock." Pikachu's blinding speed caught both Pokémon and Trainer off guard. The electric blast zapped Squirtle and it didn't agree with him.

"Where did you get a Pikachu?" Blue demanded before recalling his Squirtle.

"Viridian Forest, actually."

"Huh… Didn't know you could find Pikachu there." Blue cleared his thought and got serious again. "But either way, I can still beat it just as easy as Charmeleon! Go on out, Rattata!" Blue's Rattata appeared, but it was unlike any of the common children's playmates or wild Pokémon Red had seen. Frankly, it looked like it could tear that "Rocket" weirdo's evolved Raticate to shreds! "Rattata, Quick Attack!" This time it was Red and Pikachu's turn to be surprised by their foe's speed. Rattata's attack hit even before Pikachu knew an attack had been launched.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack as well!" Pikachu started darting after his foe with the same kind of eye-straining speed. The two Pokémon battle vigorously for the upper hand. Passersby would stop for a moment to watch the two Pokémon in their high-speed dance. Pikachu had the edge in speed and was just as hearty as Rattata. For a while, it looked like Pikachu would come out on top. But the more Rattata got its occasional hits in on Pikachu, the more Pikachu slowed down. Finally Rattata's superior brute strength wore Pikachu down enough to get a solid hit in. That was all it took.

"Great work, Rattata!" Blue congratulated his exhausted Pokémon, "I knew you had that in the bag!"

Red recalled Pikachu and readied his last Pokémon. Sure, Charmeleon still had _some_ strength left to battle, but he was in worse shape than Blue's Rattata. It was all up to his Pidgey. Red sent out the bird Pokémon, who was more than ready for a rematch with Blue.

"Rattata, Super Fang!"

"Pidgey, Gust!"

It was more a formality than a battle. Pidgey's Gust attack picked up and threw Rattata almost all the way back to Blue (who was standing some distance away). Blue sighed as he recalled his Rattata.

"It was worth a try," he said wistfully. He perked up when he drew his last Pokéball, "Oh, well. I guess my bird's just going to have to beat up on yours again. Go, Pidgeotto!" Blue's newly evolved bird Pokémon appeared before the smaller Pidgey. Pidgeotto was more than twice the size of Pidgey with a long red crest of feathers flowing towards its back. "You're mine! Wing Attack, Pidgeotto!" Pidgeotto's wing came down quickly on Pidgey. He was able to dodge one swing, but not the second that followed. Pidgey tumbled toward the ground, just managing it right itself before hitting the ground. "Finish it with a Tackle, Pidgeotto!" Blue's Bird Pokémon dived at Pidgey. It took to the sky before it got hit, but Pidgeotto banked up after it.

Just as it was about to get clobbered, Red called out to it; "I know you've got what it takes! Tackle it back!" It seemed completely desperate, but neither Pidgey nor Red showed any sign of faltering. Pidgey started to glow as it dove after his rival. Pidgey was lost in the growing light and started to get bigger. The talons of the two Bird Pokémon locked as Pidgey's evolution concluded, revealing an almost identical Pidgeotto. Red's Pidgeotto easily overpowered his stunned foe, slamming it into the ground. Red contained his surprise long enough to tell his new Pidgeotto to finish the battle, "Use Twister!" The powerful attack caught Blue's already winded Pokémon and flung it into one of the bridge's posts. The battle was over. "I knew you could do it!" Red smiled at his Pokémon as it flew towards him. It tried to land on his shoulder, but it was far too big for that now. "I guess you can't roost on my shoulder anymore…" Red teased. Pidgeotto decided to try roosting on his head instead. "Cut it out!" Red told the mischievous bird in mock anger, "Get off, that's even worse!"

"I can always know where to find you two," they both heard Green say, tapping her foot, "Just follow the noise."

"Whatever. I'm outta here," Blue scoffed. He had already recalled his Pokémon and was starting on his way. "Oh by the way," he said before leaving, "There's a cottage on the cape northeast of here. It's Bill's house. He's the guy who made the PC storage system. You should go thank him for letting you use it."

"Bill?" Green asked, "What's he like?"

"I donno. He wasn't there when I stopped by," Blue shrugged, "Just some weird Pokémon."

"Then why don't travel with us?" Green suggested, "We were heading that way anyway." Red and Blue didn't seem too keen on Green's plan.

"Travel with you?"

"What do you mean 'we'?"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!" Green encouraged.

"You're not going to take no for an answer," Red bemoaned as he tugged on his cap, "are you?" Green shook her head.

"Well, too bad," Blue waved, "Smell ya later!" He started off again, but Green caught him by his shoulder.

"Why wouldn't you travel with your _best friends_?" As if the question wasn't already asked in a sickly-sweet way enough, Green even batted her eyelashes at Blue for emphasis.

Blue was unaffected by Green's antics. "No offence, but you two would just slow me down!"

"Oh really, Mr. Rapidash? Than how come you just lost a battle to one of us 'slow' Trainers?"

"Well…"

"Then it's settled!" Green decided before even letting Blue answer, "Off to Cerulean Cape!" Without another word, Green started marching toward the bridge.

Blue and Red followed behind mopeily. "How does she sucker us into these things?" Blue asked. Red just shrugged, hiding under his hat.

* * *

Well, at least that wasn't pointless like the last chapter! Hopefully this next chapter will set the pace for the rest of the story minus some possible plot twists to come. I like the battle itself, which is good, because this chapter is almost all battle. Then again, that's really a good thing. I've noticed a lot of fanfiction tend not to have much content that pertains to the genre of the original work. A Pokémon fanfiction should be able to tell story through Pokémon battles. With any luck, I'm doing well in that regard.


	13. Encounter

I do love this story. With any luck, I should be getting some movement in this chapter. I kind of need to do a quick pace since I'm basing Red in this off of how I play the game myself. I'm a grinder. So yeah, there might be a lot happening in this chapter, so I hope I can pull it off.

* * *

The five trainers on the bridge were no match for Red and Green. As it turned out, they were part of a contest, so they had all the items they needed to battle one trainer after another. Not that being at full strength mattered much. They noticed someone at the end of the bridge after they defeated the last trainer. Three someones actually.

"Congratulations!" the one in the center said as they all tried to hand over a small gold orb over to Red, Blue, and Green. "You've defeated the five contest trainers. Please accept this fabulous prize!"

Green and Red accepted the gifts, but Blue declined, "I already got mine." Red and Green looked over the weighty gold ball. "It's a nugget. You could sell it for a high price at the mart in town. It's what I did with mine." Tactful as ever.

"By the way," the stranger in the middle spoke up again, "how would you like to join Team Rocket?" Red and Green recognized the name immediately.

"Hey, aren't you those weird fossil enthusiasts from Mt. Moon?" Green asked.

The stranger cleared his throat, "Our operation in Mt. Moon was thwarted by some pesky kids, unfortunately. But in reality, we are a group of professional criminals specializing in Pokémon! Want to join?"

"Join criminals? Not a chance!" Blue scoffed as he brushed past the three (as he did the first time he met them).

"Same here," Green agreed, "Go find someone else." She too walked past the strangers. Red didn't even bother turning them down. He just shot them a dirty glare as he followed his friends.

"Are you sure?" the Rocket asked, following them. No response. "Come on, join us!" Nothing. "Fine, it looks like you need some convincing…" They heard the crack of a Pokéball releasing its Pokémon. Green saw the jaws of the purple snake Pokémon Ekans just before its poisonous jaws were about to clamp down on her leg. She jumped out of the way, and in the same moment, Red was already throwing the Pokéball containing his Charmeleon. The other two Rockets sent out a Zubat each that surrounded Charmeleon. They were countered by Squirtle and Spearow, a red and brown, crow-like Pokémon sent out by Green.

The trainers gave their orders. Spearow took to the sky with one of the Zubat. The two whirled around past each other. Zubat's Wing Attack was narrowly avoided, and it took some effort on Spearow's part to land his Peck. Squirtle was having an easier time keeping his foe at bay with his Water Gun attack, but he had yet to land a hit. Red and Charmeleon had it hardest with the Rocket leader and his Ekans. The snake Pokémon lunged at Charmeleon with stunning speed. It wasn't as fast as Pikachu, but it was still hard to dodge. Charmeleon countered with his Ember attack. Ekans's bite may have been quick, but it was slow to react to Charmeleon's tail. His flaming tail batted Ekans right in the head, for all the good it did. Ekans brushed off the insult, snapping at Charmeleon again. He leaned back out of the way and countered on instinct. By the time Red called out "Mega Kick!", the fire Pokémon was already half way through the motion. That attack _did_ do something, and threw Ekans back hard. These Rockets weren't a joke like the one from Mt. Moon. They were dangerous!

"Zubat, use Leach Life attack!"

"Squirtle, use your Water Pulse!"

Zubat launched at Squirtle confidently. After all, it was in the air. But its charge was foolhardy. Squirtle launched his Water Pulse attack and Zubat had no chance. The bat Pokémon plowed through the attack. Squirtle easily hopped out of the way, sending Zubat face-first into the ground. It tried to take off again, but in its confusion, it only did a loop back into the ground.

"Tackle it to finish it off!" Blue ordered. Squirtle complied and smashed into the already weakened foe. It was more than enough to finish it for the day. After Squirtle let out a triumphant cry, it started to glow. His silhouette grew long ears and his tail grew bigger. Once the glow faded you could see that his tail had not just grown, it had grown fluffy. And now his cocky grin was toothier. "Alright!" Blue congratulated, "You finally evolved into Wartortle!" Green and Spearow used the distraction provided by Wartortle's evolution to finish off their Zubat.

Now all that was left was for Red and Charmeleon to finish off Ekans. Unfortunately, Ekans had Charmeleon in a Wrap attack. The light of the evolution didn't give the Rocket leader or his Pokémon pause, but when they saw they were now outnumbered, they both flinched. That loosened Charmeleon up enough to finally use a slash to get free. "Mega Punch!" Red ordered. Charmeleon was all too happy to oblige. Ekans fell in a heap. "It's not really surprising. A cheater will always expect his opponents to cheat."

"But I would never interfere with someone else's Pokémon Battle," Blue continued the sentiment. "_Especially_ not my friend's!"

"And that's why professional Pokémon Trainers like us will never join professional criminals like you," Green finished. A handful of trainers, including the contest trainers, had gathered at the commotion. They all seemed impressed by Red, Blue, and Green. And if their reaction was any indication, the contest trainers didn't even know who they were working for.

"You should join us," the lead Rocket repeated, "With skills like yours, you could be top leaders in the organization. But we'll retreat for now." The three Rockets dropped smoke pellets and vanished.

"They really like doing that trick with the smoke…" Green noted.

"You've met those guys before?" Blue asked. Red just shrugged and moved on down the path.

Route 25 had plenty of wild Pokémon to meet. As the party continued toward Cerulean Cape, they came across a number of new ones. Blue, having been up this way before, had already seen them all. Or at least the ones they found that time. A wild Abra caught Greens eye. "That's a rare Pokémon! I'm…" she looked over at Red and his knowing expression. "I'm… going to let you go for it." _Darn him and his good memory…_

Red remembered his battle with Blue's Abra, so he chose Pikachu. "Thunder Wave, Pikachu." Pikachu let loose a small shock. It caught the sleeping Pokémon who then seized up. Before Red could give Pikachu though, the wild Abra blinked away. Red could hear his friends snickering at him.

"You're going about it the right way…" Blue said trying not to laugh, "But Abra are pretty hard to catch because they teleport away like that."

Red just grumpily continued down the path until he came across another Abra. Unfortunately, with the same result. "Oh, no! This is **not** happening to me again!" He tore down the path scaring away every wild Pokémon for a mile and leaving Blue, Green, and Pikachu in the dust. They caught up with him a good halfway down the path, gasping like he was going to collapse. Just as Red was ready to give up, he heard snoring. There was a runty little Abra that somehow seemed not to notice him. Having lost his will to chase down another lost cause, Red simply tossed a Pokéball halfheartedly at the Pokémon. Everyone was shocked when it clicked closed. "Did I just…?"

"Congratulations, Red," Green smiled, "You caught your Abra!" Red released the newly caught Pokémon to get a better look at it.

Blue was the first to speak up, "No wonder you caught it so easily. It's a runt!" Abra peeked at Blue through sleepy eyes. Suddenly, he found himself levitating in the air. Blue was lifted over the nearby river and dropped unceremoniously in. "That's not funny!" he snarled as he pulled himself out of the water. Red, Green, Pikachu, and Abra disagreed.

The rest of Route 25 was uneventful aside from Green catching an Oddish. She certainly didn't have to go through what Red did to get his new teammate. Finally, as the sun began to set, the party made their way to Bill's cottage. It was a large villa tucked into the mountainside, with a welcoming entrance. In fact, there was a sign that welcomed Pokémon trainers inside! Red, Blue, and Green acquiesced, but by their first step inside, they heard cries for help coming from deeper inside.

* * *

Not really sure why I'd go for cliffhangers in a story everyone already knows, but I'm doin' it. I also fudged a little geography, but it was either that or bring the story to a grinding halt. In fact, I originally planned more for this chapter, but several factors made me decide to stop it here.

As it turns out, Red getting his Abra is based off a true story. On one of my playthroughs I decided I wanted to train an Alakazam. I tried my Pikachu's Thunder Wave, but NOPE, CHUCK TELEPORT! I was leaving the tall grass in frustration, deciding I'd have to come back later with Great Balls when I found a level 8 Abra. I chucked a Pokéball in desperation, knowing it wouldn't work. You can imagine my reaction when it did. I check its stats and to my glee, it had Special Attack I'd yet to see on a level 12 Abra! I nicknamed it PWNAKAZAM. (Obviously I can't have Red do _that_, but it was still awesome.)


	14. Bill

Working a bit ahead, though out of necessity. Fire is nice and easy to write, though, so it should be fun. As I mentioned before, I was going to do this first bit last time, but oh well. I'm not actually one hundred percent sure how this is going to play out, but I have a few ideas. Hope it works out.

* * *

The cottage was warm and cozy. It was well furnished, but littered with books, papers, and other such research materials. The floor was as littered as any surface, but there was a clear path left open out of the foyer. The path continued from there out to the other rooms. It didn't matter that the rooms were all spacious, Red and the others all had to walk single file to get around.

The trio could hear faint complaints in the distance. They ventured deeper into the house to find the source. The path between the books winded deeper and deeper into the cottage. Finally they reached a back room. This room was a bit cleaner than the others, having only a few books and papers around the periphery, though a desk with a computer off to the side was still cluttered to the brim. In the back of the room were to cylindrical chambers connected by some kind of green tube.

The center of the room was the most eye catching. There was a strange Pokémon just standing there fidgeting. It looked kind of like a Clefairy, but there was something off about it. Unfortunately, they couldn't spot who was calling for help. Other than the Pokémon, there was no one in the room.

"Hello?" Green called in the general direction of the rest of the house.

Blue didn't even wait for someone to respond, "Told you there was no one here," he said with a shrug.

"I am too here!" the irritated voice of a young man in his twenties responded. Everyone jumped at the sudden noise. "Down here," the voice said, giving no other indication as to the location of its source. Red was the first to look back down at the strange Pokémon as jumped when he saw it staring up at him and waving. "Hiya! I'm-"

"A Pokémon?" Blue cut off.

"-a Pokémon… …No I'm not! Call me Bill. I'm a true-blue Pokémaniac!" the Pokémon introduced with a smile.

"A Pokémon made the PC Storage System?" Red asked skeptically, still not sure if catching the Pokémon was out of the question.

"Hey," Bill asked, still smiling, "What's with that skepticism? I'm not joshing you."

"But if you're Bill, why do you look like a Pokémon?" Green asked, much more tactful than either of her friends.

"I screwed up an experiment and got combine with a Pokémon," Bill explained a little sheepishly. So much for the idea of catching it… "So how about it? Will you help me out here?"

"What do we get?" Blue asked instantly. Green jabbed him just as quickly. "What?" he grumbled, rubbing his side, "I was just wondering…"

"What do you need me to do?" Red asked after giving Blue a quick eye roll.

"Wait until I get inside the teleporter," Bill explained. "When I do, go to my PC and run the Cell Separation System. Everything's clearly labeled, so it's easier than it sounds." With that the Pokémon waddled over to one of the machines in the back of the room and disappeared behind an automatic door.

When Red looked over the PC, everything was indeed clearly labeled. Red simply clicked the icon labeled "Cell Separation System" and the machine started warming up. Clicking, thudding, and whirring filled the room as a light moved through the tube connecting the two chambers. A bell dinged and a man with shaggy brown hair jumped happily out. Only Red noticed a very unhappy Clefairy sneak out with speed that rivaled his own Pokémon.

"Yeehah! Thanks, friends!" Bill, the real Bill, graciously shook Red, Blue, and Green's hands with glee. "I owe you one!"

"I knew we'd get something for this," Blue grinned confidently.

"You are so tactless!" Green shot back, but Bill only chuckled.

"It's quite alright. You're Oak's grandson, aren't you?" Blue nodded. "I thought so. Oak has been my mentor for years. I know you would have helped out anyway."

"Sure, but it's still nice to get rewarded…"

"And that's still tactless!"

Bill only laughed. "I know the perfect reward for aspiring young Pokémon trainers! I'll show you my collection of rare Pokémon." Everyone looked excited at the prospect of seeing rare Pokémon. Even Red showed it, as much as someone like him could.

Bill led them through his home, apologizing for the clutter along the way. At one end of his house, there was a sliding glass door with what looked like woods outside. "Through here is where all your Pokémon get sent via the storage system. Every trainer who uses my PC storage system has Pokémon here." The four entered as the door slid open on its own. Inside was vast. Looking past the tall trees that spread for some distance, one could see a mountain with a snowy cap. You could also hear the sound of water running, the sound of a flowing river and the lapping of waves on a beach. It was like a giant natural park.

"Amazing…" Red breathed, speaking for his speechless friends.

"When a Pokémon gets transferred, they are teleported here and released into this place," Bill explained, pride clear in his voice. "It was originally going to be an attraction, but when that fell through, my family bought it and I used it for my storage system invention. It's actually built right into the mountain. The sky up there is just a painted ceiling, though the bird Pokémon seem not to mind. I have habitats for every known species of Pokémon, and thanks to some help from automated systems, I can take wonderful care of them all! Oak even comes down to see me and study the Pokémon in their natural habitat."

"I always wondered what Gramps did on his trips to Cerulean City…" Just walking the path along the forest, Red spotted a dozen Pokémon he had yet to see. Most of them were little things, but it was neat to see. Even though none of the Pokémon were technically his, Bill showed the most rare ones off with beaming pride. He also made sure to mention the names of the trainers when he did, though.

They finally saw all of the caves in the artificial mountain and the day was spent. Once they exited the preserve, Bill addressed them. "You're welcome to stay the night. It's a big house and I can clear my mess out of a few rooms."

"That's fine, we can just head back to the Pokémon Center in Cerulean," Green returned politely.

"I insist. And one more thing…" Bill handed each of them some kind of ticket. "That's for a party on the S.S. Anne for Pokémon Trainers. But I'm not really one for fancy do's and my family can't make it."

Red and his friends accepted Bill's kindness and stayed the night. In the morning they were on their way again, but not before promising to pay Bill another visit someday. With such a wonderful experience behind them, they decided to head back to Cerulean City. It was on their way, and even if it wasn't, Red still had some business there…

* * *

Not sure about this one. I don't dislike it, but something about it doesn't feel right. Well, I'll see if I get any real reviews. I'll blame League of Legends as it's been distracting me all week. Then again, I would have gotten this done hours ago if I hadn't gone to see Iron Man 3. Oh, well. Worth it.


	15. Your Pokemon Policy

Fire again. This should be a fairly easy to write. I've been working ahead on a lot of my stories. Hopefully I can get a lot of work done. In any event, this should move Fire along some and that's something this story desperately needs.

* * *

Red stepped through the door of the Cerulean City Pokémon Gym. It was nothing like the Pewter City Gym. There was a cool air in the building. Most of the walkable surfaces in the building were wooden docks. And to Red's dismay, the entire room was a pool. Fantastic, Charmeleon could potentially die if he fell in the water and his tail flame went out.

Still, Red pressed on. Both Blue and Green had passed this Gym, he would have to do the same. First, there was a trainer waiting to test potential challengers. The fit man wore a skullcap, swimming goggles, and a speedo. Where did he keep his Pokéballs when he needed to store them? It didn't matter, he had his ready.

"You can't just challenge Misty, our Gym leader," the swimmer said. "You have to beat me first!"

Red nodded and withdrew a Pokéball. The swimmer tossed his. A purple clam-like Pokémon with a little tongue sticking out of the shell appeared from the Pokéball. Red recognized the Pokémon as Shellder. He had seen one or two at Bill's. Red's Pokéball unleashed Pikachu.

"Shellder, use-!" the swimmer started before Red cut him off.

"Use Thundershock."

Pikachu's attack was almost too quick for the eye to see. Shellder was engulfed in electricity and thrown off the dock and into the pool a few inches below. It bobbed up to the surface, unconscious.

"Uhh… Well, I guess you win," the swimmer gawked. Red acknowledged him and continued on by. Blue and Green followed after Red. When the swimmer saw the company Red kept, he just sighed.

Up on a podium at the far end of the pool, a girl in her late teens stood. She had red hair tied into a single pigtail, blue eyes, and wore a blue exercise swimsuit. She had a commanding presence as Red and the others walked over to her.

"I suspected there would be another," she smiled. "I'm the leader of the Cerulean Gym, Misty. Every Trainer needs a policy when raising Pokémon. Mine is an all-out offensive with Water Pokémon! Let's see if you can hold out like your friends there!" Without any more delay, Misty picked up one of two Pokéball at her feet. "If you can beat my two Pokémon with two of yours, you can have the Cascade Badge. If not you might want to think about a new hobby." As she spoke, she tossed the ball and released the Pokémon inside. It was one of the more strange Pokémon Red had seen. It was some kind of star-shaped creature with brown limbs and a red crystal of some kind set in gold in the center.

Red checked his Pokédex. It was called Staryu, a Water-Type of course. Pikachu was already out, so Red nodded him forward. The two Pokémon squared off and waited for orders from their trainers. "Staryu, use Water Gun!"

"Use Quick Attack!"

Staryu's top point dropped down and aimed at Pikachu. It blasted a forceful stream of water from an unseen point. Pikachu disappeared with blinding speed, racing around the jet of water. It circled around its foe in an ark and struck it in the side, throwing it off balance. It lifted itself up, seeming to levitate and turned to face Pikachu again.

"So, you want to play it like that, huh?" Misty grinned. "Staryu, use Tackle!"

Red grinned in return as Staryu lunged at Pikachu. "Gotcha! Pikachu, Thundershock." Staryu couldn't do anything to arrest its momentum as it charged forward. On top of that, Pikachu's attack moved at blinding speed. Staryu was engulfed in lightning and fell hard on the docks.

"You beat Staryu…" Misty breathed in surprise. She recalled her Pokémon and regained her composure, her confident smile returning. "You're pretty good. But Staryu wasn't my best Pokémon. This one is!" She picked up and tossed another Pokéball on the podium. From the Pokéball appeared another star-shaped creature. This one was bigger however, and seemed to be made up of two stars, one behind the other. The Pokémon was mostly purple and the red crystal in the middle was larger and more ornate. "This is my best partner! Starmie!"

"My electric Pokémon still has an advantage," Red said confidently. "Pikachu, Thundershock!"

"Starmie, use Rapid Spin!"

Pikachu reared up to deliver his electric attack, but Starmie was much quicker. The two stars spun independently like contra rotating propellers. The Pokémon spun toward Pikachu, slamming into it and throwing it in the pool. Pikachu recovered quickly and jumped out of the water, but Misty and Starmie were ready. "Starmie, use Bubblebeam!" Starmie unleashed a solid wave of powerful foam at Pikachu. The wave hit Pikachu and threw it into a wall. He slid down the wall and stopped on a concrete walkway that ran around the edge of the pool. It was out cold.

"P-Pikachu…"

"That was a pretty smart combo you pulled on me and Staryu," Misty gloated. "But turnabout's fair play. Did you think you could just get through this Gym with nothing but a type advantage? Training is far more important than type!"

_Come on Red_, Blue thought sourly, _You're better than this. You know not to get overconfident just because you have an advantage…_

Red smiled as he recalled Pikachu. "I guess you're right. Training is more important. I guess I should show you my best partner." Red confidently tossed his second Pokéball, revealing Charmeleon. Now was not the time to hesitate.

Blue smiled at his choice, _that's more like it!_

"A Fire-Type?" Misty questioned. After the surprise wore off, she quickly decided she wasn't impressed. "You little smart alec. I'll make you pay for that one! Starmie, use Bubblebeam!"

"Use Smokescreen!"

As Starmie's blast of foam shot toward Charmeleon, he unleashed a wave of thick black smoke. He and Starmie's attack vanished into the cloud. "Oh, no you don't! Starmie, use Water Pulse!"

"Use Slash."

The disk of water that blasted from Starmie cleared the smoke in an instant, but Charmeleon wasn't there. Red glanced over to the wall where Pikachu had hit. Misty and her Starmie looked over just in time to see Charmeleon kicking off the wall and rocketing toward his foe. Charmeleon landed back on the docks, raking his claws across Starmie.

"There's no way a Charmeleon can be that fast!"

"Use Ember, than Mega Punch!" Starmie was stunned for a moment form the unexpected hit. Charmeleon spun and swiped it with his flaming tail. He spun again and punched Starmie right in its crystal core with a clawed fist. Starmie skidded across the dock, barely able to stay upright. "Mega Kick!" Charmeleon jumped forward, leg outstretched. Starmie barely had time to duck and stumbled from exhaustion from the heavy blows.

"Ack! Starmie, back up and use Recover!"

"Gotcha! Mega Kick again!"

Starmie jumped back toward the pool and started to glow as its powerful move restored its strength. Before it could get into the water, Charmeleon jumped after it, kicking it right in the face… Or where it's face would be. Starmie went flying, belly flopping into the water. Whether it was that or the kick that knocked it out didn't matter. The match was over.

"Wow!" Misty sighed, "You're too much! Alright! You can have the Cascade Badge to show you beat me." Misty humbly handed over the badge. "This will let you use the Pokémon move Cut to clear new paths. And also please accept this. It's my favorite TM, Water Pulse." Red thanked her and he and his friends left. That was two down. At this rate, he'd be the Champion in no time!

* * *

Oh, why did I have to say it? So yeah. Second Gym battle. Hopefully it's exciting enough. This actually turned out just as intended. This may be one of my better ones, so input on it is important to me. And please, please, PLEASE, don't spam me. Thank you.


	16. Stop! Thief!

Working on this a bit early since I have nothing better to do. I intend for this chapter to move the story along at a nice clip and set the pace for the bulk of the story. How well I can pull off this chapter will determine how far I can go with this (or rather, how fast).

* * *

It was finally time to put Cerulean City in Red and his friends' wake. The next stop was south; Vermillion City. Unfortunately, the path to Route 5 was blocked off by tangles of chin-high thorn bushes. Blue suggested using the Pokémon move Cut to clear the way, but no one had a Pokémon that knew Cut. The group looked around town for a way south. The searching was fruitless for some time until (mostly out of desperation) the group checked the northeast corner of town. There were police around one house that looked like it had been burglarized.

The trainers walked up to the house to see what the commotion was about. It seemed the police were just finishing up with the place. The reason it looked burglarized, apparently, was because it was. Apparently a criminal using a Pokémon to terrorize and rob the owners of the house. Green was the first to decide she wanted to help and dragged Red and Blue along for the ride as usual.

Inside the place was a total mess. There were claw marks and footprints all over the floors, walls and ceiling. The furniture in the room was thrown about the room and ruined with more of the same. The owners were doing their best to clean up the destruction. Green was the first to approach them, picking up a few damaged books on the floor.

"Excuse me," she said politely, handing off the books to one of the homeowners. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but what exactly happened here?"

"A bandit stole the TM for Dig!" the man of the house exclaimed. "I was going to teach it to one of my Pokémon since it's such a useful move, but now it's gone. Darn those Rockets!"

"Those Team Rocket guys again!" Blue growled unkindly.

"I'll find them for you," Red said as he made his way toward the back of the house. Ordinarily there'd be no door, but now there was a hole where the Pokémon and its crook trainer blasted out an escape route. Green apologized for Red's manners and she and Blue followed.

They didn't have to go far to find the thief. He was in a rather large abandoned lot behind the house he had robbed. He had a strange Pokémon next to him. It was a yellow and brown shrew-like Pokémon standing on two legs and had a long, floppy nose. He was apparently trying to figure out how to use the TM he had stolen. Red could sympathize with the thief at least as far as that went; he still couldn't figure out TMs himself. Though that didn't mean he was going to compare notes with the crook.

The criminal, standing right next to the scene of the crime in his Rocket uniform, noticed the three young trainers' approach. "Hey! Stay out!" the Rocket called at Red, "This isn't your yard!"

"It isn't _you're_ yard either!" Green shot back.

"Forget whose yard it is!" Blue cut in, "Give back the TM you stole!"

"Who, me? I'm just an innocent bystander, don't you believe me?" Judging from the look Red was giving him, he didn't. Red was already drawing a Pokéball for the coming battle. "Drowzee, use Poison Gas attack!" the Rocket ordered, pointing at the interloping trainers.

Red and the others jumped out of the way of the toxic purple cloud. Red threw his Pokéball as he dove out of the way. The house that the Rocket had burglarized was directly behind them and he couldn't let the attack go unchecked. "Pidgeotto, Gust!" Pidgeotto burst forth from the Pokéball and summoned a tornado to dissipate the smoke.

"How dare you Rockets use Pokémon to attack people like that!" Green snarled. She'd have been throwing a Pokéball of her own had Red not already beat her to it.

"We're going to make you pay for that!" Blue added. He didn't care that Red already had a Pokémon out, he was drawing a Pokéball to throw at the next opportunity.

"Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!"

"Drowzee, use Pound attack!"

It was almost sad how one sided the exchange was. Pidgeotto blasted past Drowzee at blinding speed, slamming into his foe hard enough to lift it off its feet. Drowzee did _attempt_ to pummel Pidgeotto with its fist, but it had no hope of hitting it. Pidgeotto had really come into his own after evolving. And even if Pidgeotto was still just as ready for a fight as before (though that was far more normal for a Pidgeotto than a Pidgey), he was a lot calmer and more focused now. "Try Confusion, Drowzee! Just hit it this time!" the Rocket ordered impatiently.

"Pidgeotto, Sand Attack." Pidgeotto responded instantly, kicking up a massive wave of sand that blocked Drowzee's vision. The normally invisible psychic waves of Drowzee's Confusion attack rippled through the cloud of sand safely away from its target. A smirk played across the beak of Pidgeotto when it saw the dust cloud was covering the Rocket as well, causing him to cough and rub his sand filled eyes. "Finish it with Twister," Red ordered casually. Pidgeotto obliged, his keen eyes spotting his target among the sand and picking it up and throwing it into a nearby fence. Drowzee was knocked soundly out.

"Fine!" the Rocket said, still trapped in the dust cloud. A light brown computer disk flew out of the dust cloud toward Red. He caught it easily. "You can have the TM back! It's time for me to leave!" The Drowzee disappeared into red light that vanished into the dust cloud. Soon after, the cloud dispersed, but there was no Rocket to be found. With a dissatisfied sigh, Red turned back to reenter the burglarized house. His mood only brightened when his victorious Pidgeotto landed next to him and followed him inside.

"Here," Red said to the homeowner, handing over the TM.

The man looked it over and smiled. "Thanks, kid. This is really nice of you, but I figure what's lost is lost. You can keep it."

Red was about to take the item back when Green appeared next to him. "Can I have it then?" she asked brightly. Red looked over at her, frozen in mid motion with a sour look on his face; she had that look again…

He threw up his hands in defeat, "Whatever." He walked out, Green and her new TM right behind him.

"Hey, how come you didn't give it to me?" Blue asked as he joined them.

Route 5 was just beyond the lot behind the burglarized house. It was a short walk from there to the Underground Path that led to Vermilion City. Green wanted to see if the road was open to Saffron City, a place she had always wanted to visit, since a road there led to Saffron. Unfortunately, the road was closed for work to be done on it.

The Underground Path was a concrete tunnel running under Saffron toward the port city of Vermilion. The city was renowned for its many Pokémon Trainer destinations; the S.S. Anne was in port holding a party for Pokémon Trainers, Diglett Cave that offered new Pokémon to catch, and of course a Pokémon Gym. There were a few scattered trainers along the way, but nothing was going to stop the three young trainers on the path to greatness.

* * *

Kind of a weak ending line, but otherwise good. I'm hoping I can "fast travel" like this for most of the _grind to level X0 or more here_ routes throughout the game. Not only would this get mind numbingly boring (to write or read!), but it would also likely result in this lasting for way too long. A story like this is bad enough as it is, I don't need it getting any more doorstopper…


	17. Wack-A-Mole

I did it this time by being lazy. I tried to get to work on it every day this week. Oh, well. Once again, I hope I can set a precedent with how towns work from now on. This one might be a bit rocky, but the next one should be solid (Hopefully). Also, thanks to one of my other stories slowing down, this one will be speeding up its pace of updates. So that's a thing.

* * *

Vermillion City was a dramatic change from what Red and his friends were used to. Viridian, Pewter, and Cerulean, were all big cities for the small town trio, but this was a _real_ big city. The ever bustling sea port was alive with activity. And the city was ever expanding. People and Pokémon worked together to construct new buildings and expand the port.

The party arrived late at the Pokémon center, so they stayed the night after resting their Pokémon. The next morning the group set out into the city. There were plenty of things to do in the city. Green wanted to look around and see the sights. Aside from all the shops and businesses, there was a Pokémon fan club in town, as well as the S. S. Anne that they had the tickets for from Bill. Blue wanted to head straight to the Pokémon Gym first. Red wanted to check out the nearby area for new Pokémon.

Rather than dragging most of the party somewhere they didn't want to go, the group decided to split up and meet up later once they all had their badges and were ready to leave at the Pokémon Center. Red headed out toward Route 11. He skulked around in the tall grass for a while, finding a few wild Pokémon, but nothing to write home about. He did, however, collect a Spearow, and a Rattata, though those he would drop off at the Pokémon Center later. Unfortunately, Red could only adventure so far. The winding dirt road tapered off toward the sea, but was eventually blocked by a massive sleeping Pokémon. Red tried to wake it up, and failing that, move it, but nothing he tried worked. So much for Route 11. But there was something interesting near the beginning of the path.

On the way into Vermillion City, Red had heard about a place called Diglett's Cave that apparently had some hard to find Pokémon inside. Red found the entrance, a small, rocky hill tucked in among some trees. The entrance seemed just barely big enough for an adult to get through. Red could get through rather comfortably. There was light filtering through small holes of the chamber about an inch or two wide scattered around the hollow dome. In the center of the floor was a hole about the same size as the entrance. There was a sign warning of it next to it, as well as a ladder that humans could use to climb down into the depths.

Red made his way quickly down the ladder and entered a long, curved tunnel. It was much darker here and it took Red a few seconds for his eyes to adjust. Even after he could see enough to move around, it was still slow going down the path. Path was generous since it was clear that the ground was not made to be walked on. And even with his eyes adjusted, Red could only see so far. There could be a Pokémon at the other end of the cave and he wouldn't have known any better.

Just as he was contemplating that, when he heard a slight rumble. His sure foot slipped out from under him a second later and he slammed hard into the ground. Groaning and looking around he noticed several brown creatures with beady eyes and red noses. The looked like living wack-a-moles. One of the creatures popped up in front of Red's nose, clearly snickering at the trainer's fall. Red, still lying eye-to-eye with the tiny Pokémon reached into his jacket for his Pokédex. When he moved, all the Pokémon vanished into the cave walls. The only one left by the time Red had retrieved his Pokédex was the one laughing at him. It stopped when Red scanned it with the Pokédex and he started to read to himself. "Diglett… A mole Pokémon… Lives underground because it doesn't like bright sunlight." Red looked past his Pokédex and at the curious Diglett. "You tripped me didn't you?" The Diglett started giggling again. "That's not very nice. I'll have to teach you a lesson, you know…" Red reached for his belt to draw a Pokéball, but Diglett vanished into the ground. It reappeared under Red's Pokédex, knocking it out of his hand. To Red it looked like the Diglett was teleporting since he blinked. The Pokédex went flying and was caught on Diglett's head, the Pokémon still giggling like a fool. Red grabbed at his Pokédex as he got up, but Diglett moved through the earth and sidestepped. "Give that back, you little…" Red threw his Pokéball and unleashed Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon, Slash!" Charmeleon dashed at the Diglett, sliding before attacking so his claws would miss the Pokédex and hit the target. Diglett disappeared into the ground and Charmeleon caught the Pokédex before it hit the ground. He stepped away from the battle for a second to hand the Pokédex back to Red. "Good job, budd-!" Red's praise was cut short when the ground underneath them shifted and burst a little. Both Red and Charmeleon were thrown off their feet. "I don't know about you, but this Diglett is getting on my nerves…" Charmeleon grunted in agreement.

Charmeleon got back up and charged after Diglett with his claws brandished. As fast as Charmeleon was, impossible to hit the tiny and swift Diglett in its natural habitat. It even counterattacked now and then with invisibly fast Scratches that only left a little hole in the ground and a mark on Charmeleon. The Diglett could do little to Charmeleon and one mistake would end the fight in a second. The cocky Diglett almost made it, waiting a second too long before darting back into the hole. Charmeleon's claws slammed into the hole Diglett was hiding in, missing by a hair's breadth.

The hole actually gave me an idea, "Charmeleon, use Smokescreen like you did against Brock's Onix." Charmeleon grinned and complied, filling the hole Diglett had made. Unfortunately, instead of flushing out the pesky mole, the complex system of tunnels brought the smoke out elsewhere, right in Red's face.

After coughing and flailing for a few seconds, Red composed himself. Charmeleon was ready for another round, but Red called him back to his side. Diglett reappeared to see what was happening with the battle seemingly over. "You're pretty fast," Red complimented the Diglett, "So why don't I introduce you to the last speedy Pokémon that gave me a hard time?" Red threw another Pokéball, this time sending out Pikachu.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack." Even with how fast Diglett was, Red's Pikachu was faster. Diglett's invisibly fast claws were sensed and dodged by Pikachu handily and the mouse Pokémon slammed into Diglett. Diglett, not being a very hearty Pokémon, was stunned by the hit. Red threw a Pokéball at it and waited. Eventually, Diglett stopped struggling and was caught. Since he had six Pokémon, the Pokéball vanished into thin air, off to Bill's habitat to be cared for. Then again, Red admired the little one's spirit. He decided that he'd make it part of his team when he got back.

With the troublemaker Diglett out of the way, the rest of the path was easy(er) to traverse. Finally, Red made it to the other side, greeted warmly by daylight. Near the exit of Diglett's Cave (which lead back to near Pewter City as it turned out) was a small cabin for tired travelers. Red decided to take a short break inside before heading back to Vermillion. Inside he was almost immediately stopped by a man in thick glasses and a lab coat. "Hello there! I'm one of Oak's aids! I see you have a Pokédex." Red looked down at his pocket and saw it was partially exposed since he hadn't stopped gripping it after getting it back from Diglett. "If you've registered more than ten Pokémon in your Pokédex, the Professor asked me to give you this Hidden Machine, or HM. May I see your Pokédex?"

Red reluctantly handed over the Pokédex. To his relief, the man was on the level. "Eight, nine, ten, eleven. That's great! Here, take this HM for Flash." Red remembered Brock mentioning something about a move called Flash. Red thanked the man before deciding it was time to return.

Diglett's cave was no trouble on the way back. Red had gotten used to the uneven path and made good time without any troublemakers to slow him down. Once he got out, he made his way to the Pokémon Center to switch out some of his Pokémon. He arrived there just as the afternoon started to give way for the evening. Once inside the Pokémon Center, he met up with Green, energetic as ever.

"Hey Red! You know the S.S. Anne tickets we got from Bill?" she asked excitedly.

"Uh huh."

"Well, it turns out there's going to be a big party tonight before the ship's maiden voyage!"

"Uh huh."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"Uh hu- wait what?" Red barely had the time to grab Diglett's Pokéball before he was dragged briskly out of the Pokémon Center.

* * *

Not perfect, but I like it. Writing this has kind of gotten me in a Pokémon mood, so hopefully I can get the next one out soon. I also hope I'm doing a good job of telling the game's story specifically and yet making it entertaining to read. It's kind of hard adapting a video game with a silent protagonist into this format and make it work.


	18. Battle on the SS Anne Part I

Another project came up and ate my time, so I'm doing this last minute. I'm starting to wonder if I do this to myself on purpose subconsciously… In any event, I feel this chapter might be much in the same vain as the last one. Hopefully it will turn out well.

* * *

It wasn't hard to find the dock the S.S. Anne was moored at. Signs, banners, and, flags beckoned Pokémon Trainers to the glorious cruise ship. The S.S. Anne boasted to be the size of a small town and from the outside it appeared to live up to that. Red and Green made their way up the gangplank, flashing their tickets courtesy of Bill as they boarded.

The ship had hundreds of rooms, as well as a massive five-star kitchen. There were over thirty decks and many accommodations including multiple pools and even a movie theater. Red and Green took their time looking around the massive ship. Most of the amenities weren't open yet, but it was still amazing to see what the ship's guests had to look forward to.

Eventually, the two found themselves heading toward the captain's quarters. Just before they were about to round the corner, Blue stormed out into the hallway. He noticed them and walked over, "You going to see the captain? Don't bother. I heard he was a master of the Pokémon move Cut, but he's just a seasick old man!"

"Blue!" Green scolded, "That's rude! You shouldn't say things like that behind someone's back!"

Blue shrugged her indignation off, "Whatever. We have somewhere to be!"

"What do you mean?"

"There's going to be a little tournament held for all the Pokémon Trainers that got invited here," Blue explained. "We're all going to enter!"

Red would normally not be happy about being volunteered for something by his bossy friend, but this sounded fun. The aft top deck of the ship was an open air Pokémon battlefield, able to accommodate all different types of Pokémon. By the time the three friends made their way to the top deck, the registry for the battle and the first matched were underway. Red signed up first and was assigned to an early match. He was to take the battlefield after the current match ended. If the three won all their battles, Red and Blue would battle in the semi-finals and the winner would face Green. The format was a best of three battle. Both trainers would send out one Pokémon at the same time and they would battle until one was unable to continue. Whoever won two battles would move on to the next round.

The current battle between two young trainers came to a close and Red took to the stage for his first match. A sailor, who looked like he was supposed to be a crew member of the ship as opposed to a guest, stepped into the arena across from Red. On the signal to start, Red and the sailor threw their Pokéballs out onto the dirt floor. When the light faded, Pikachu squared off with a strange, gray, human-like creature that appeared to have gills on its sides and three sails on its head.

Red checked his Pokédex for the strange creature. It was called Machop, but since Red had yet to catch one himself, he had little information on it other than the fact that it was made of pure muscle! "Machop! Use Karate Chop attack, now!" the sailor ordered. The strong Pokémon dashed forward.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Machop made it across the good-sized arena in the blink of an eye, but Pikachu was already gone, circling around to hit Machop in the side. Pikachu's attack connected with the Superpower Pokémon, but it seemed to have little effect.

"Try a Low Kick now!"

"Double Team."

Machop preformed a well-executed low sweep, but the attack just passed through Pikachu's afterimage like a mirage. Neither Machop, nor his Trainer saw Pikachu a few feet away at the edge of the arena. "Pikachu, Slam!" Pikachu rocketed forward and bashed into the unaware Machop. Even the powerful body of Machop had to yield to that attack. Machop fell and Pikachu was declared the winner. Red proudly called Pikachu to his side and readied his next Pokéball.

Next it was Charmeleon's turn to face a new foe. The large "Tentacruel" was a blue jellyfish-like Pokémon with many brown tentacles and three glowing red sections on its head as well as a long, menacing beak under its body. "Tentacurel, use Wrap!" the sailor ordered. The creature's tentacles shot forward. Charmeleon easily ducked them and backed away.

"Slash, Charmeleon." Charmeleon used the distance he made with his foe to lunge forward with his claws. Without time to dodge the attack, the Tentacurel was felled in one stroke. And with that, Red had won the match. Still, with so many contestants, he'd have to wait a while for the next round.

Much of the tournament continued that way. Red, Blue, and Green met with little challenge from the various other trainers. The battles continued for over two hours before Red and Blue finally met on the tournament roster.

"I'm going to pay you back for the last time!" Blue promised.

"We'll see…"

On their cue, both trainers threw their Pokéballs. The light cleared to reveal both of their Pidgeottos. Both were ready for another crack at each other after their last two meetings. "Twister, Pidgeotto." Red ordered first.

Red's Pidgeotto whipped up a powerful gale in his wings and launched it at his foe. Blue's Pidgeotto was too quick for the attack, however, and was able to sidestep (or rather sideflap) the swirling gust. "Use Tackle, Pidgeotto!" Blue ordered confidently.

"You too!" Red ordered. The two bird Pokémon met, slamming into each other hard and locking talons. The two pushed on each other with all they had, but eventually, Blue's gained ground forcing Red's to back off.

"Use Whirlwind, Pidgeotto!" Blue ordered. With Red's Pidgeotto far enough away, Blue's could whip up its own gust. This one was not dodged and sent Pidgeotto tumbling to the ground. "Finish it with Wing Attack!" Blue's Pidgeotto complied, and with Red's still dazed from the Whirlwind, it didn't have the time to dodge the attack. Blue was declared the winner of the first round. It was the first round Red had lost in the tournament. "Told you I was gonna pay you back!"

"You haven't won yet…!" Red retuned strongly. The two threw their next Pokéballs and called on Pokémon the other had yet to see. Blue's Pokémon resembled Abra, but was bigger, standing on two legs and fully awake. It also carried a spoon, for some reason… To Blue, Red's Diglett looked like a…

"Hahahahaha! What is that thing?! The Dust Bunny Pokémon!?"

Red smiled back confidently, "You're about to find out!"

* * *

Like the last one, not perfect, but good. I planned on having all of Red and Blue's battle in this chapter, but between the time and my not wanting the next chapter to have too much filler, I decided to cut it off here.

I decided to go my own route with the S.S. Anne thing. I didn't want it to be like the anime adaptation of the little plot point, and it would be kind of hard to justify Red walking into people's cabins like you do in the game. Honestly, I think this works as a party on a cruise ship about Pokémon that Bill would have been willing to miss. I also had to change Blue's dialogue a bit, but I digress…


	19. Tough Opponents

Plenty of distractions to keep me from this and result in my next last minute update. Not the least of which being my Pokémon X version, though I managed to be distracted by every random butterfly that fluttered by, so excuses, excuses. I have been planning this for a while, so I should be able to get through it just fine. We'll see.

* * *

"If this is your idea of a joke, you won't be laughing when you lose!" Blue warned as his psychic Pokémon Kadabra eyed down the little brown creature hiding in the dirt. "Kadabra, use Confusion!" A barely visible wave of psychic energy shot forward, blasting the spot where Red's Diglett had been into a crater. Blue jumped when the little Pokémon seemed to have been vaporized into nothing by the attack. "I didn't kill it, did I?!"

Red just smiled, "Dig, Diglett." The ground underneath Kadabra exploded, even more so than when it used its psychic powers. Kadabra was thrown across the arena and landed with a thud in a shower of dirt. Both it and Blue were stunned silent

It was Red's cocky grin that finally snapped Blue out of his surprise. "Okay, so it's not as weak as it looks," Blue admitted, "But Kadabra will still squash it! Psybeam, Kadabra!" The psychic Pokémon spied its small opponent and pointed its spoon at it. From the end of the spoon shot a multi-colored beam of energy at its small target. Just like last time, Diglett vanished into the ground. "Darn it, where did it go this time?" Diglett popped up under Kadabra's three fingered hand and knocked the spoon free. She popped up again under where the spoon was going to land, balancing it on his head. "Wha…?"

Red groaned at his impish Pokémon. "Diglett," he said in the warning tone of a parent, "Not now." Diglett seemed to sigh before disappearing underground and letting the spoon rest over her burrow. She popped out again a bit away from it so Kadabra could retrieve its weapon.

"That thing of yours is quite a character," Blue noted as the trainers and Pokémon readied themselves to resume the battle.

"You have no idea," Red sighed.

"Well, were about to find out how this character of yours loses! Kadabra, use Psybeam again!" Kadabra fired another psychic blast at Diglett, but it dodged underground again. This time it popped up behind Kadabra. Unlike many of the other competitors, sharp-eyed Blue spotted his opponent. "Kadabra, about face!"

"Scratch, Diglett!" Kadabra turned around to face Diglett, even putting up its spoon to parry the invisibly fast Scratch attack. Kadabra readied another Psybeam, but Red intervened, "Magnitude, Diglett!" The battlefield, which was attached to the deck by a special rig that prevented the odd earthshaking attack from bothering other passengers, shook with a powerful rumble. Just as Kadabra was about to launch its attack, the rumbling knocked it off its feet. The Psybeam launched into the sky, reflecting off a metal post, than returning to Kadabra, striking the prone Pokémon on the head.

"Uhhh…" Blue breathed, starting down at his unconscious Pokémon, "What just happened?" According to the judge, Kadabra had just lost the match. "You're gonna pay for that one!" Blue growled as they both threw their last Pokéball. Wartortle and Charmeleon appeared before one another once again. "Heheheh. This is perfect! I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Why?" Red returned, "Because you have the advantage?"

Blue smiled, "Yeah, my Pokémon's better trained."

"We'll see. Charmeleon, Slash."

"Duck, Wartortle!" The command seemed unconventional, but it worked. Charmeleon shot forward, only to have his claws pass harmlessly over his foe's shell. "Now Skull Bash!" Wartortle drew its head into its shell and aimed for Charmeleon. The windup of the move gave Red and Charmeleon just enough time to react.

"Charmeleon, Mega Punch!" Charmeleon caught himself through the missed Slash and spun on his heel. With a full-body swing, Charmeleon smashed Wartortle in the chest with his fist. That would have sent any normal Pokémon flying off the end of the curies ship and into the sunset, but Wartortle, braced for the Skull Bash, held fast. Its head shot out from its shell like a bullet, smacking Charmeleon in the jaw and throwing it to the ground hard.

"Now one Water Pulse and it's over!" Wartortle readied the attack as Charmeleon reeled. Just as the disk of water blasted forth, Charmeleon rolled out of the way. But there was little Charmeleon could do in his position with Wartortle pressing its attack.

"Charmeleon, Ember!"

"Wartortle'll just duck this one too."

This time the tactic failed. Charmeleon's flaming tail swung not for his foes head, but its feet. The powerful tail swept Wartortle's legs out from under it and caused it to collapse. Finally, Charmeleon had his chance to get back up. "Charmeleon, Flamethrower! Pin it!" Charmeleon did as ordered, blasting the blue turtle with roaring flames.

"Oh, no you don't! Water Gun!" From the flames burst a fire hose blast of water. Charmeleon barely had enough time to see the attack, dodging on instinct. Still, the blast clipped his neck and shoulder with enough force to throw him off his feet again. Wartortle emerged from the flames naught but singed. "Let's try this again. Water Pulse!"

"Mega Kick!" Charmeleon took advantage of being on the ground, putting his entire body into a devastating kick to Wartortle's chin. Wartortle was knocked straight up, causing the Water Pulse to miss wildly. Charmeleon road the momentum from the kick to leap back to his feet. Wartortle caught itself in the air and landed on its feet in time to dodge Charmeleon's follow-up Mega Kick.

"Bite it, Bite it, Bite it!"

"Charmeleon! Smoke Screen!" Wartortle lunged forward with all it had only to be completely halted by thick black smoke. It was barely visible in the cloud and Charmeleon had totally disappeared. "Mega Punch!" From the haze, Charmeleon reappeared, already winding through the last moments of his most mighty haymaker to date. The punch caught Wartortle right across the jaw, sending it to the ground finally in defeat. The crowd roared with the match's conclusion.

"I can't believe I lost again…"

After such a closely matched battle, Red's Pokémon were given all the healing items they needed to get back to full strength. For even after all of that, there was still one more opponent to face.

"Now I just have to get past you and I win the tournament!" Green said with glee.

"You won't be winning," Red returned with a smile.

"We'll see!" she replied in a sing-song voice. Both trainers threw their Pokéballs. Red had chosen to lead with his Pidgeotto again. Green's Pokémon was new. And it looked strikingly like…

"Is… Is that a duck with a leek on its back?"

"Yup! This is my new Farfetch'd. I traded for it with some guy in town who wanted my extra Spearow," Green explained. "For some reason, he'll only respond to "Ch'ding", but I still love him! So let's get this battle started with a Wing Attack!"

"Pidgeotto, Wing Attack."

The two bird Pokémon closed on each other. It was abundantly clear that Pidgeotto was faster, and probably stronger, but just as his attack was about to hit Ch'ding blocked his wing with the leek. This gave the duck-like Pokémon the chance to strike Pidgeotto right between the eyes, knocking it out cold. "Oh, did I happen to mention that leek Ch'ding is carrying is a special item that allows it to better aim his attacks and strike more critical areas? It must have slipped my mind. Silly me~!"

Red groaned as he recalled Pidgeotto. He hoped his bird Pokémon wouldn't have a fear of _other_ bird Pokémon by the time the day was out. But there was still the next round to win. He had to if he wanted to win the tournament. Knowing Green, she'd probably have something tricky up her sleeve, so Red decided on his most evasive Pokémon. And Green would _never_ suspect he'd use the same three Pokémon.

Red's Diglett was greeted by the continence of Ivysaur. "I **knew** you would save Charmeleon for last! And your Diglett is a ground-type Pokémon, right? Well, Ivysaur has the advantage as a grass-type! Now use Leech Seed!" Diglett was unable to dodge the strange attack as strange seeds appeared around her and attacked themselves. She tried to shed the strange seeds by ducking underground, but vines sprouted from them almost instantly and entangled her. "Oh, and look at that. It looks like Leech Seed immobilized your Diglett. Vine Whip, Ivysaur!" Diglett didn't have anywhere to go and was smacked by the strong vines. The little Pokémon didn't stand a chance. "Yay! I won!" Red just sighed as he recalled Diglett. Oh well.

Red, Blue, and Green stayed at the party a little longer than that, but with the main event over, it was winding down. Soon after the three departed, the S.S. Anne departed on her first cruise around the world. As the three trainers left the pier to head to the Pokémon Center for the night, Red noticed movement by a parked truck. He looked and spotted what looked to him like a pink cat. But the figure vanished. Red decided it must have been his imagination as the Pokémon vanished into the night like a mirage.

* * *

This is perfect! I love my work here. I'm glad I was able to get it done and not have to break it up. Please tell me how I could improve it and make it better! I'm really tired of having to explain to people how much I hate getting sugar-coated reviews.

Incidentally, the fight between Diglett and Kadabra was the hardest part. The learnset of those two Pokémon **combine** is pitiful! Kadabra pretty much knows psychic ray # 1, 2, & 3, and Diglett knows Scratch, Dig, and Magnitude. Thank heavens for TMs, right?


	20. Canned

I'm actually working ahead on this one for once. Blame it on the upcoming holiday. Also, I stupidly forgot to add the group getting Cut. (I mentioned the seasick captain, but I never wrote the scene where Red helps him to cure it.) One for the rewrite, I guess. So let's move this story along a bit, shall we?

* * *

After one night at the Pokémon Center, the time had come to challenge Vermillion Gym. The path to the Gym's entrance was a narrow one; only a few feet between the outer wall of the Gym and the sea below. The trio entered the Gym, one large room filled with neat rows of mostly empty trash cans and an electronic gate in the back wall. Red could barely see a towering figure behind the glowing bars of light.

There were a few trainers scattered throughout the Gym amongst the rows of garbage cans. Red approached one as his companions all did the same. As soon as Red stopped before the man, a well-dressed gentleman with gray hair and a mustache, he smiled at him. "I bet you're wondering what's up with this Gym?" he said kindly. Red nodded. "Well, Lt. Surge was always famous in the army for being very cautious. I'll give you a clue on how to get past them if you defeat me in a battle."

Red nodded again and sent out Charmeleon. He didn't know what the theme of this Gym was, so it was best to be safe and lead with his best. The gentleman sent out… well, it looked like a Pokéball. It had eyes, though and seemed to be able to move around on its own. Neither Red nor Charmeleon knew what to make of the strange object/creature and the gentleman took advantage of that.

"Voltorb, use Sonic Boom," the gentleman ordered. The already angry looking Pokémon grimaced and unleashed a pressure wave from where its face should have been. Charmeleon retained his senses well enough to dodge, and Red was quick to give his orders. He noticed that the sonic attack struck one of the garbage cans, but it didn't even shake.

"Charmeleon, Slash!" With amazing speed, Charmeleon rushed forward and raked his claws across the length of the odd Pokémon. That was all it took.

"Well done, son," the gentleman praised, "But we're not done yet." He threw another Pokéball, calling out a levitating machine-like creature. It was an iron or steel ball with a large eye in the center. On the top of the ball was a lose screw, as well as two more side by side under the eye. On either side of the ball were two horseshoe magnets. "Magnemite, use Thundershock."

Again, Charmeleon was fast enough to get out of the way of the electric jolt. "Slash again," Red ordered. Charmeleon had this Magnemite clearly outpaced and was able to close on it in a blink. Charmeleon's claws hit it, but seemed to do little. Charmeleon was clearly better trained, but Magnemite was no slouch and probably had a type resistance to Slash Red reasoned. That also left out Mega Punch and Mega Kick.

"Magnemite, use Sonic Boom now," the gentleman ordered calmly. The foe unleashed the same type of sonic wave that Voltorb had. Once again, Charmeleon was too fast and ducked out of the attack's way. The sonic wave hit another trash can, but this time it was blown over, spilling crumpled up paper all over the floor around it. Something about that struck Red as odd. The gentleman took advantage of Red's hesitation to call for another Sonic Boom attack.

Red snapped out of his thoughts after the second attack knocked over another trash can. "Just dodge!" Charmeleon wasn't sure why he wasn't going to counterattack yet, but he saw the confidence on Red's face and trusted him. A few more Sonic Booms forced Charmeleon in among the rows of trash cans. Sonic Boom after Sonic Boom knocked down Charmeleon's cover, but the elusive reptile remained untouched. Red vaguely heard Blue say something about not helping clean up the mess his Charmeleon was making, but Red ignored him.

Eventually, the gentleman saw that Sonic Boom wasn't going to be enough. "I had hoped I wouldn't have to use this move, but Magnemite, use Shock Wave." The magnets on either side of Magnemite started to spark and together loosed an almost blindingly fast bolt of electricity. The attack was too quick for Red to react to, but Charmeleon had just enough time to remember what he learned about lightning rods from his battle with Pikachu. He grabbed and tossed a nearby trash can into the air, catching the bolt safely away from him. After the can started to fall, he kicked it in the direction of Magnemite. The metal Pokémon swatted it out of the way with ease with one of its magnet arms.

Red saw that the trash can that was being batted around ended up hitting the first one that had held fast as well as the one standing next to it. Neither of them moved. As much as Red was curious about that, his experiment had to end. Charmeleon avoided that by pure luck, and there was no way he was going to be able to dodge an attack like that. "Charmeleon, Smokescreen!" Red ordered. Charmeleon was quick to blast the foe with a thick cloud of smoke.

"Unfortunately for you, Shock Wave can hit targets even in these conditions," the gentleman said as Magnemite levitated above the cloud. To its surprise, Charmeleon was nowhere to be seen. Reasoning that it must be somewhere in the smoke cloud, it aimed its magnets blow it and charged another Shock Wave.

"It won't hit if Magnemite's knocked out by Ember," Red grinned. Charmeleon took the cue and leaped out of the smoke by vaulting off one of the suspicious trash cans. With a spin, Charmeleon put his full body into knocking Magnemite out of the sky with his fiery tail. Charmeleon landed ready for the next exchange. Magnemite didn't.

"That's very well done, son," the gentleman smiled as he recalled his knocked out Magnemite. "I'd tell you that the way past the electronic gate is to find the hidden switches at the bottom of two of the trash cans, but you already figured that out, didn't you?"

"So that's what you were doing," Green smiled as she approached and started rooting around in one of the unmoving cans.

"I just noticed that one didn't move when hit," Red assured, "That's all."

"Yeah, you just got lucky," Blue agreed snidely. There was a beat as the two of them looked at each other. "What? I'm not digging through that. _You_ can do that."

Red rolled his eyes before reaching in. The can was filled with clean crumpled papers and nothing more. Still, even without stray tissues and banana peels, it was still off-putting sifting through garbage. Finally, Red found the switch at the bottom. Green had already found hers and they both hit them. With a click, the light of the electronic gate faded.

"It'd be unfair to see the Gym Leader before my battle, so I'll wait here."

Green turned to her quiet friend, "Wow, a full sentence!"

"Well, if you're not going to go, I'll go!" With that, Blue was off like a shot.

Red shrugged, "Ladies first…" He and Green enjoyed the joke at his expense and waited for his battle to finish. It took a few minutes, unusual for Blue, who liked crushing his opponents as quickly as possible. Once he approached, showing off his new Thunderbadge, Green made her way to the Gym Leader.

Blue passed by Red, clamping a hand down on his shoulder, "This Gym is pretty tough. You don't really stand a chance, so you should just give up now. I'm heading back to the Pokémon Center. Smell ya later!"

Eventually Green returned in triumph, flashing her own Thunderbadge. Red stepped forward and was greeted by a tall blond man in a green military field exercise uniform, fingerless gloves and boots. "You're the one who figured out my puzzle, right? You're clever, but you don't got the guts to beat me. My electric Pokémon zapped my enemies into paralysis and saved me during the war. That's something a civilian like you wouldn't get! You can try to use as many Pokémon as you want to win. But if you need more than three, you ain't getting a badge, got it?"

Red nodded and drew a Pokéball, "Let's get started."

* * *

This I like. I think the characters come through and I feel like the battle was satisfactory. Interestingly enough, Magnemite can't learn Shock Wave through TMs in gen five, but it can in three and four. (I had a heart attack when I didn't see Shock Wave on Magnemite's moveset since I kind of needed it for the battle I had planned…)

This actually works out better pacing-wise if I do it like this. I have the rest of the series pretty well planned out, so I hope I can get this out in a timely fashion. A boy can dream…


	21. Shocking Power

Of course I wait for the last minute again. It shouldn't be that bad since this is a Gym Battle. Those are easy and fun to do. Can't really think of anything else, so I'll just get to it.

* * *

"Voltorb! Go!" Lt. Surge called out his first Pokémon, the same spherical creature that the Gym Trainer from before used. It was hard to tell if it was any stronger given that it was a ball with eyes, but Red assumed the Gym Leader's Pokémon would be a cut above the others.

Red tossed his Pokéball, revealing his Diglett. He knew from his first Gym experience that ground-type Pokémon didn't mix well with electric-types. "Diglett, Scratch."

"Voltorb, use Sonic Boom!" The foe's Voltorb unleashed the now familiar sonic wave at Diglett with stunning speed. The attack managed to hit Diglett, stalling her long enough for the Voltorb to roll out of the way of her Scratch attack. "Do you really think I wouldn't have a way to deal with a Diglett with their cave right outside of town?! You're going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me!"

Red wasn't that surprised that Lt. Surge had a way of dealing with ground Pokémon. What was worrying him was that Voltorb's speed. It was faster than Diglett? Nothing Red had seen was that fast, Charmeleon only managed to look faster with all his hard training. This Voltorb was definitely stronger than the other one he had just fought. "Diglett, Dig!" In a flash, Diglett vanished underground.

"My Voltorb can handle that hit," Surge boasted, "When it comes up, hit it with Rollout!" Diglett popped up under Voltorb, throwing it up in the air. Voltorb started spinning in mid air and rocketed back down, slamming into Diglett. Surge laughed as Diglett staggered underground, "A squishy little thing like a Diglett won't be able to handle the next hit! That's what you get for picking on type alone." Readying the next hit, the speed of Voltorb's spin visibly increased. Surge was probably right about Diglett not surviving the next hit.

Red smiled, though. "And this is what you get for underestimating your opponent. Diglett, Fury Swipes." Diglett rushed forward unleashing a flurry of invisibly fast claw attacks. Voltorb, too busy spinning up its Rollout attack to avoid Diglett, was knocked out of its attack and out of the fight all at once. "I didn't just pick Diglett because she's ground-type. I picked her because I have faith in her strength."

Surge couldn't help but chuckle as he recalled his Voltorb. "Okay, kid. Maybe you _do_ have guts. You still ain't gonna win, though." Surge threw another Pokéball, this time sending out a Pikachu. It was hard to tell if Red's Pikachu was any stronger or weaker without a side by side comparison, but what was abundantly clear was that Surge's was no pushover. "See if you can handle this! Pikachu, use Mega Punch!"

"Diglett, return!" Red declared as Diglett vanished back into her Pokéball. Trainer etiquette dictated that Red send out his next Pokémon before his opponent's attack was wasted. Red did so, sending out his Charmeleon. Charmeleon took the hit right on the chin, grinning down at the smaller Pokémon at the insignificant damage it dealt. "Let's return the favor." Charmeleon gladly did, socking Pikachu across the jaw. The mouse Pokémon was thrown to the ground, but got up after a moment. Red didn't give Surge or his Pikachu a moment to rest, "Charmeleon, Slash." Charmeleon took a step toward the barely recovered mouse and swiped at it with his claws. Surge's Pikachu barely ducked away from the attack and hopped back, away from its bigger foe.

"Ya like living fast?" Surge grinned, "How about you try this?! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Charmeleon followed through with another Slash attack, but Pikachu disappeared with speed Red's would be hard pressed to match. It reappeared when it slammed into Charmeleon from behind. Charmeleon turned to face it but it vanished again, reappearing to crash into Charmeleon's side.

Charmeleon was clearly starting to lose his temper at his speedy foe and Red could see it. "Don't try to follow it with your eyes and trip it! Charmeleon, Ember!" Charmeleon closed his eyes and waited a second. He felt the rush of a breeze blow past him and swung his tail just ahead of it, catching Pikachu in the legs and sending it tumbling to the ground. A ghostly, barely visible flame appeared around Pikachu as it barely staggered back up.

"You burned my Pikachu?" Surge noted, "Well, let's see how you like getting paralyzed! Pikachu, Thunder Wave!" Charmeleon turned and was about to finish his opponent, but was stopped by a strange jolt of electricity. It didn't hurt him, but it caused all of his muscles to seize up. It was enough to bring him to his knees, but at least he fared better than Surge's Pikachu. The ghostly flame brightened for a second, sapping the last of Pikachu's strength and knocking it out. "Not bad, kid. You and your friends are the only people in a good long while to defeat my Pikachu." He recalled his Pikachu and sent out a new Pokémon. It was about double the size of Pikachu, approaching Charmeleon's height. It was dark orange with a white belly and large ears. It's short, but strong limbs ended in brown fur and had yellow cheeks. Its long black tail was tipped with a large, yellow lightning bolt pattern. "Now let's see if you can beat Pikachu's evolved form; Raichu!"

Red was in a spot once again. Pidgeotto wouldn't mix well with a powerful electric-type like Raichu, Diglett was still beat up from his fight with Voltorb, and Abra didn't know any offensive moves yet. But Charmeleon was in no condition to battle like this. Charmeleon did his best to rise and meet his foe. He wasn't ready to give up. Red steeled himself. No way they couldn't do it!

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!" Charmeleon tried to unleash his powerful fire attack, but he seized up before he could complete the attack.

"Yeah, that's what I thought! Raichu, use Thunderbolt!" Raichu's body burst with a powerful electric aura. Lightning descended on Charmeleon, who barely leaped out of the way. "Slippery, ain'tcha? Bet you can't dodge Shock Wave!"

Charmeleon was still suffering from the paralysis, he had no way of dodging the speedy Shock Wave. The electricity wracked Charmeleon with pain, but he remained standing, unwilling to yield without landing even a single hit. "You have to finish it in one hit! Charmeleon, Flamethrower!" Charmeleon powered through the tightness in his muscles and roared, blasting a surprisingly massive wall of flames at the foe. Raichu was too surprised to even try to dodge. After the fire had washed over Raichu and dissipated, it was left knocked out on its feet. It face planted a second later.

"Holy cow!" Surge breathed as he recalled his Raichu. "Well, all I can say is that I'm shocked. You've got more guts than I gave you credit for. You earned this Thunderbadge! And take this TM for Shock Wave too. It's a powerful electric move that is so fast it never misses!" Red closed the distance between them and accepted his prize.

Red next walked over to his Charmeleon, who hadn't moved since the end of the battle. "That was amazing work, Charmeleon!" Red complimented. Charmeleon only nodded dumbly. Apparently he was as surprised by his last attack as anyone else. Red was curious about this, but decided to drop it when Charmeleon seized up again. "Let's get you to the Pokémon Center and get rid of that." The muscle spasm seemed to pull the fire Pokémon out of his stupor and he nodded. Red recalled his Pokémon and departed the Gym with pride.

* * *

As much as I liked it, this was weirdly hard to write. I kept getting distracted for some reason, so there may be mistakes here or there. Once again, a Pokémon's poor learnset caused me problems, this time Voltorb's. Also, it occurred to me when I was writing about Voltorb's speed that it isn't the fastest Pokémon Red's seen. That would actually be Starmie, believe it or not. I was recently training a Starmie and looked up its base stats to find it's actually quite a bit stronger than I thought it was and surprisingly fast! I may have to tinker with Red vs. Misty when I get back around to it.


End file.
